RFC: Some New Internet Metrics (01)
So I have never heard of this particular metric being defined; if you have, let me know. If not, I'm naming it now.
Flame Retardancy: (Applied to blog posts or posts in online forums.) The (integer) number of comments replying to a post before the first obvious flame comment. Simple rule: figure out which comment is the flame, then subtract 1.
Notes:
[1] Flame retardancy is always subject to revision over time.
[2] If the original blog or forum post is the flame, then the flame retardancy of the post is defined to be negative infinity (-∞).
[3] If there are no flame comments, then the effective flame retardancy of the post is infinity (∞). In the entire history of the internet this has never happened.
[4] This definition is for linear comments; if the forum allows for threading and unthreading use the linear format. If not, we define the flame retardancy without counting replies to comments. This means flame retardancy measures across different forum types may be meaningless without some standardization. (This definition is for convenience; I'm open to suggestions for fixing this.)
[5] Obviously this metric has some (slight) subjective qualities.