Have you seen this website of Mark Reed where it lists different types of online personalities which he called flame warriors? Check out the site and see which type of flame warriors are you.
If you were to ask me to choose which type of flame warrior I can relate to, this will be my choices:
1. Lurker does not participate in normal forum discourse, but he's out there...watching, reading every message. He is usually quite harmless, and more often than not his silence reflects a natural reticence rather than sinister motives. If a fight breaks out he will quietly observe to avoid revealing his position. Occasionally, however, some mysterious impulse drives him to de-lurk and attack. This totally unexpected assault is universally regarded as an ambush, and other Warriors will turn on him savagely. Lurker seldom sticks around to fight it out, however, and after a brief exchange, he once again slips out of sight.
I am a member of various yahoo groups but I can say that most of the times, I am just a lurker. I love reading other people’s points of views about different topics but sometimes, I don’t feel comfortable talking and sharing about how I think right away. I want to get to know the person (or in this case the group or the members of the discussion forum) really well first before I will be comfortable in sharing my views. So I will just follow all the flows of conversations and would really hesitate to speak out my mind right away.
I observe there are some members in our Yahoo groups that will reply and submit a post to almost all the topics being discussed in the forum. I am not like that. I will reply if only I find the topic really interesting and if only I am confident that what I will post will make sense and will not just waste the time of the other members of the forum. I guess, I am conscious with what I say and post in the discussion boards and I always think things through before I make a post. That is why, most of the time, I end up not posting anything at all and I will just stay as a silent observer.
2. Big Cat would rather not fight...he enjoys peacefully observing forum conversations and laconically participates when the moods strikes. He playfully chases interesting threads, and from time to time uses a Newbie or Propellerhead as a convenient scratching post. He enjoys being stroked or petted, and tends to purr loudly. CAUTION: Don't be fooled by his fuzzy, playful exterior. When provoked, Big Cat reacts with lightning speed and almost always lands on his feet after an attack. Big Cat often indulges himself by toying with his victim before delivering his lethal blows.
In a discussion forum, we can’t prevent that there will be misunderstandings and sometimes heated discussions. I experienced that a lot of times in the discussion forum where I am a member of. But like the Big Cat, I will prefer to just observe the conversation and will just be on the sidelines. I will read and follow the thread regarding the argument, but I will still prefer not to be on any side of the fence to avoid conflict. Thankfully, I haven’t experienced loosing my temper yet when provoked by other members of the forums.
One flame warrior that I encounter most of the time is the Nanny: tirelessly monitors forum discussions to make sure that everyone behaves. Though he is quick to admonish for off-topic messages and petty squabbling, he is generally slow to anger. Rather than wading into pitched battles, Nanny simply pulling the plug on combatants and bans repeat offenders.Weaker Warriors such as Innocence Abused, Weenie and Crybaby will run to Nanny for protection in the midst of battle.
In the yahoo groups where I belong to, we have a moderator who acts like our nanny. The moderator checks all the messages that are being posted in the forum and check to see if all the policies have been followed before the message will be approve for posting. The moderator also reminds us every now and then on the rules and policies when posting in the forum and the moderator also have the power to approve members and suspend members who constantly violates forum rules.
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