Online Etiquette: Rules to Surf By. Review on Netiquettes

Netiquette is etiquette, or how to behave properly, while online.  There are many common “rules” that people using the Internet for communication purposes consider good manners.  If you break a rule, you will usually hear about it right away.  There is a lot of particular advice I could give, but I’m just going to cover some of the major points of netiquette which I find are the most important to me.

DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

In cyberspace, this is considered rude and loud, as if the typist is yelling or screaming at you to make his point.  It is very difficult to understand subtleties online, so typing in all upper-case letters is reserved for yelling, usually denoting anger.  You normally would not want to type something in all caps unless you are really angry, and then you risk getting banned from an online user group, or making other people very upset and not wanting to read what you have to say.  Also, if you have tried to read a paragraph that has been typed in all capital letters, you probably found it harder to read than the normal lower case type that is acceptable.  If somebody has a harder time reading what you’re trying to say, they most often will just skip it.

Chain Letters

Many people who are “newbies” or fairly new to communicating on the Internet fall into a pattern of passing on a lot of “chain letters” to their friends and acquaintances online.  Although they think they are having a little innocent fun, many people, especially more seasoned and experienced Internet users currently consider chain letters to be spam.  They usually tell you to pass on the e-mail to at least 10 people and if you do so, you will receive good luck or maybe even free money.  If you really want to send these chain letters, I would advise you to ask your friends if they mind you sending them.  If anybody asks me, I will politely decline, saying I am not interested in receiving them.  Sadly, most people do not bother to ask, they just send them out to everybody they know.  Some people do not appreciate them, and you wouldn’t want people to think you’re rude and a foolish person for sending them out, now would you?  Again, ask for permission if you just have to send those things out.  I consider them a total nuisance, and rather childish.  Why would e-mailing a chain letter bring somebody good luck?  Think about what you’re doing, before just blindly following along with what somebody tells you to do.

Flaming

Flaming is attacking someone personally online.  Say you’re in a newsgroup discussing a current event topic, and you strongly disagree with someone else’s opinion.  Then you decide to e-mail your own message about that person, perhaps attacking his intelligence or religious beliefs.  Launching a “flame” attack is considered very poor improper net etiquette and should be avoided unless you want to cause hurt feelings and possibly get kicked off of a group you have subscribed to online.

Spamming

Sending an identical piece of e-mail repeatedly to the same newsgroup or several newsgroups all at once is called spamming.  It is very annoying, and almost anyone will find it aggravating, as it fills up too much of cyberspace with unwanted, irrelevant information.  An example of spamming would be if you are on a newsgroup of say, current events in your country and somebody sends a handful of irrelevant messages maybe about joining their Elton John fan club or something.  Spam is totally irrelevant to the forum you are sending it to.  If you belong to an Elton John fan club online, it would be appropriate to send such a message.  Spam is basically unwanted e-mail, and oftentimes is used for the purposes of mass marketing.  It tries to reach a large mass of people usually for personal gain, or just to block up mailboxes and cause frustration on the Internet.  If you want to post a message that you are afraid might be considered spam, it’s best to ask permission from the list manager before you post to avoid trouble.  In some cases, spam may even be considered harassment, and may even be illegal.

Fortunately, after using the Internet to communicate for awhile, you will naturally pick up the “rules” of netiquette.  Like most things in life, the more we participate in something, the better we get and the more we understand.  Using the Internet is like that, too.  All of the early mistakes that newbies make are easily corrected by paying attention and taking constructive criticism to heart.  The Internet is a wonderful modern tool for communication; netiquette makes the communication easier.  Happy Internet surfing everybody!