----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy White" <nancyw@fullcirc.com> To: <air-l@aoir.org> Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 2:25 PM Subject: [Air-l] Re: Flame Wars
I'm wondering about the distinction between "Flame Wars" and the ongoing occurrence of conflict in online group interactions. Heck, conflict happens. Sometimes it escalates to what would be an argument F2F. Is that a flame war? Or is that a relic of previous time.
There are over 100 theories of group formation and interaction in f2f groups. Perhaps the most famous of the sequential stage theories of group development was proposed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965; he stated that groups evolve through 4 stages, which he labeled: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing (Tuckman, 1965: 384-399). His research was based on studies of therapy groups, human relations training groups, laboratory-task groups and natural groups. A fifth and final stage - Adjourning - was added by him later (Tuckman, 1977). 1 Forming - Members become oriented to each other & the task at hand. Dependency on the leader & testing of behaviour appear. 2 Storming - Members find themselves in conflict & its management becomes the focus. Antagonism & turmoil appear. 3 Norming - Rules of behaviour appropriate to the group, & necessary for the task are spelled out. Period of cohesion & cooperation appear. 4 Performing - Group works as a unit to achieve goals & accomplish the task. Solutions appear. 5 Adjourning - Termination of tasks & disengagement from relationships. Group disbands. Many of the other theories agree that sooner or later in f2f groups, there is dissatisfaction and/or conflict. Some contend that this is a necessary stage before groups can accomplish their goals. Some of the writers on online learning have concurred and suggested that online groups go through similar stages of group development. Now, "storming" need not take the extreme form of flaming, but disagreement, and resolution of conflicting positions appears to be normal whenever groups attempt to work together, whether f2f or online. While in my experience, flaming is rare (except in newsgroups), it is not unheard of and one should not be surprised if it happens..................Alex Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental Sequence in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384-399. Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M.A. (1977). Stages of small group development revisited. Group and Organization Studies, 2, 419-427. Alex Alex.Kuskis@utoronto.ca