Yahoo!7’s attempt to reduce bullying and offensive behaviour in their forums and comments illustrates a problem we have in the online community — that many people forget their manners when they connect to the Internet.
Manners matter online because there is no divide between your behaviour on the Internet and in the physical world. What you say and do online can affect your personal and professional life.
In previous posts I’ve looked at how this affects business people and politicians, but poor online behaviour such as bullying, offensive language and just downright poor manners can affect all members of the community, even if you aren’t online yourself.
Much of the problem lies in that people forget the Internet is a global medium, what you post from a computer in Parramatta can be seen by someone in Paris. Many also think they are anonymous online when it’s actually difficult to cover your tracks.
So here’s a few ideas on how to be a good cybercitizen;
You are what you tweet
Keep in mind everything you do online can affect your job, your family and your personal assets. All the rules and laws of the physical world apply online as well.
If you wouldn’t do or say something on the street, then you probably shouldn’t do it online either.
You are not anonymous
Okay, you signed up to a forum with a false name and setup a dummy hotmail or gmail account to confirm your identity. You are still not anonymous.
Upset enough people or seriously break the law and you will be found. Being truly anonymous on the net actually takes a lot of effort .
Show respect
We all have ideas and opinions which the Internet is a great medium for spreading, be it using social media tools life Facebook and Twitter or in forums and comments sections on websites.
Regardless of how good your idea is or how passionate and well founded your opinion is, there will be those who choose to disagree with you. Respect those views and don’t get offended when dissenters, however shallow or ill-informed appear.
Be helpful
If someone is asking a silly question or is clearly new to an online forum, be polite. Don’t put them down or call them names, just help them or direct them to where they can get assistance.
Take a deep breath
If someone has got under your skin and you’ve written a savage reply, think before pressing the “submit” button. Often, that witty riposte doesn’t look so clever when you’ve calmed down or looked at it in the cold light of morning.
Avoid foul language
Swearing online makes you look low rent, just as it does in the real world. Save the invective for when you’re with your mates in a private forum. The Internet is generally not a private forum.
Walk away
Sadly the Internet attracts trolls who enjoy upsetting people and provoking strong reactions. Don’t join them.
If you find someone is upsetting you or sucking you into a vortex of pointless arguments, just walk away from the discussion. Block them, unfollow them, defriend them.
In the worst case, if you’re finding one online venue such as a web forum or social media site attracts people who upset you, stop using it. Your life is too short to be sucked into negative, carping discussions with people who thrive on criticism of other’s hard work and ideas.
The Internet is becoming the repository for our culture while our society has a lot of negativity we’ve also done great things. So rather than be part of the negative aspect, be part of the solution — be bright, welcoming and honest but most of all show respect to your fellow online citizens.
A strong and vibrant society is built on respect and manners so let’s make our online communities how we’d like the world around us to be.
I love this post! To my mind manners are such an important statement of who we are whether in the digital or physical worlds. A lot of this advice would be well upheld by people offline too. That being said, what is deemed to be acceptable manners, probably evolves in the same way as language with new acceptable standards coming into play by common usage. My grandmother used to tell me of her aunt, who wouldn’t leave the house to cross the road without putting on her gloves. That being said let’s not loose the ability say please and thank you and be courtesous including online. I still send a thank you card in the post as I was taught to do by my mum. And I’d love to bring back the time when the door is held opened or a chair is pulled out. For me, manners are just about making another person feeling special. And I hope manners are about personal integrity as much as worrying about outcome.
Thank you for sharing your Core Rules of Netiquette. I agree with you. For more rules and information please visit NetworkEtiquette.net for the official rules of netiquette. Everyone could use a little netiquette : )