Usually found on internet forums or reddit-style threads, flaming refers to the use of offensive language, swearing and other methods of provocation for the purpose of eliciting a response from or engagement with the target. The ultimate goal is to inflict humiliation, shame, and ruin the target’s credibility. 
 

Before being recognized as a tool for digital harassment and abuse, flaming was normalized as part and parcel of online communication in closed fora and chat rooms.  

For some who have been targeted with online violence, instead of moving away from online participation, they chose to respond with more speech and more engagement. Speaking openly about an experience of online abuse (in addition to utilizing institutional or alternative mechanisms of protection), can be helpful for several reasons. Naming and shaming your abuser and exposing them to public scrutiny can also be a mechanism of protection, helping you regain a sense of control and empowerment in helping others in similar experiences, and raises public awareness about digital violence. As the broader public learns the extent and scope of online abuse, they will recognize its negative effects on society and, hopefully, demand a response from State officials. If you chose this path, try to focus on sharing your experience and the personal and community impacts of an assault.

Read more about how online discussions nose-dive into dangerous discourse. https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-flaming-2483253 

It might be difficult but it is not impossible to identify the person behind online abuse. Keeping regular track of abuse also helps in documenting the digital traces left behind by the perpetrators. Using these clues, and with the help of friends, digital security experts, investigative journalists and a little bit of luck, it may be possible to identify individuals or groups responsible for abuse. Take a look at this great example from Latin America’s Center for investigative journalism - when collaboration resulted in the discovery that a group of politicians were responsible for online assaults across the continent.

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