Arcehtypes Online: Flame Warriors Unveiled

A while back we did an exercise to derive the archetypes of an online community. Mike Reed is compiling an exhaustive and supremely entertaining inventory of online “flame warriors” – caricatures of bad behaviours online.

The list, with descriptions and brilliant artwork to match, now stands at around 89 personas. While these characters are not emergent from a whole community’s experience as ours were, Mike’s experience is so extensive, and his eye so sharp, that many of these characters have strong archetypal resonances. And Mike seems to have used them in one of the ways negative cultural archetypes can be used: to describe and diminish bad behaviours using humour, without engaging in personal attacks or attacking specific individuals. My personal favourites? Evil Clown, Bliss Nanny and Ideologue!

Thanks to Stephen Thorpe of the onlinefacilitation group for this link.

Posted by Patrick Lambe on 30/12/06 at 07: 27 PM | Categories: Communities, Culture | Permalink

3 Comments so far

Zac

Err, I think you mean archEtypes...?

Posted on January 04, 2007 at 11:18 AM | Comment permalink

Zac

Oops - I just proved myself to be a Grammarian.

I was just trying to help, honest grin

Posted on January 04, 2007 at 11:22 AM | Comment permalink

Patrick Lambe

LOL! Yes, my mistake, but a lovely accident given the consequences!

Posted on January 04, 2007 at 08:39 PM | Comment permalink

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