Flaming is the exchange of hostile and insulting messages over internet between Internet users or user groups. . It usually occurs in the social context of a discussion board, Chat rooms,. E-mail groups, and other social networking sites. Most of the discussions result between the hostile groups as a result of the discussion of heated real-world issues like politics, religion, and philosophy, or of issues that polarize subpopulations. For example, heated discussion on various forums like topixx.com between Indian and Pakistani internet users can be seen.

A similar slang used over blogs is fisking which was originated by Bloggers in 2001. The term derives from the name of Robert Fisk, a British journalist. It is similar to the line-by-line method in policy debate.