Flaming

Flaming refers to the posting of a "hot" reply to an email or other online message that can range from sarcastic, constructive criticism (pointing out spelling or grammatical errors) to severe personal attacks. Where the message is posted publicly to a chatroom or other forum where others can read them, the flames can sometimes provoke reply flames or third party flames and lead to what is referred to as a flame war involving many participants and lasting for many weeks.

In response to flaming and flame wars, many Internet service providers and chatroom hosts police their services keep flaming in check.