Email is an indispensable medium in today’s communications. After all, it’s lightning fast … and many believe that for all its quirks, it’s still more reliable than old-fashioned “snail mail.”

Email’s ease of access, low sending cost, and blazing speed, however, often lead to abuse. And we users become the victims.

Onlineetiquette.com cites two key reasons for people behaving badly online. First, there’s the anonymity that’s provided by the medium. It is so easy to create bogus email accounts, thereby making it difficult to establish the identity of an individual. This is why it is easier for some to express unpopular, or even rude, opinions via email messages. The lack of face-to-face contact gives people a sense of boldness to say things they normally would not.

Second, perhaps due to the perceived informality of the medium, many tend to believe that anything goes when online, and that everyone has the freedom to express whatever opinion he or she may have, not matter how crass it may be.

An example of poor Internet behavior is flaming, which is defined as a verbal attack in electronic form. It is a deliberate act that aims to upset its receiver. It may come in the form of foul language, insults, verbal harassment, and even threats.

So what do you do when you get flamed? Should you retaliate and further fan the hatred?

The best way to address flames is by first finding out the reason why the individual acted this way. Misunderstandings often occur in email since it is devoid of tone and facial expressions. People can easily jump to conclusions, so take time to clarify matters before responding in an equally agitated manner.

You may also want to apply reverse psychology in the form of a politely crafted response. This way, the person who send you the message would realize that his behavior was completely uncalled for. And if you’re lucky, you may even get an apology for the undeserved rudeness.

However, if you feel that you have been severely violated, you may opt to report flames to this email address–abuse@(their ISP). All Internet service providers have terms of service that protect its users against flamers and other forms of abuse. You may also want to save the email message as reference.

Ignoring flames completely is also one way to deal with it. Some just do not deserve your attention, and it would be a waste of time to respond to messages of this nature. Do not stoop down to a level that is way beneath you. There are very good reasons why the delete key exists, and this is one of them.

Keep in mind that the challenge here is how you can maintain an atmosphere of professionalism. Remember that maintaining a business-like demeanor, even in online communications, gives you and your company that competitive edge that sets you apart from the rest.