Online etiquette

[Lisbeth]

1.  Don't type in all caps, all bold, or all italics.  This is the online equivalent of shouting.

2.  Anything posted online is fair game for comment from any member of the public.  If you want to keep something private, keep it offline.

3.  Use short paragraphs-about six sentences.

4.  Get to the point you're trying to make by the time you get to the bottom of your comment field without having to scroll down.

5.  Don't indent paragraphs online-justify all text to the left margin (the right margin if you are typing in a language read right to left).

6.  Leave a blank space between paragraphs.

7.  If it's rude offline, it's rude online.  Don't get into "flame wars."

Good start!   OK, Keeny, your job as OP is to edit your original post to include the good suggestions for additions until there is a final document.

OP edited as per your request.  I hope you approve.

[Bob Ducca]

Should we separate this into Online Etiquette: Recreational and Online Etiquette: Business?

[Lisbeth]

Should we separate this into Online Etiquette: Recreational and Online Etiquette: Business?

The rules that are business-specific could be listed that way, but many are applicable to both.

[ginlyn32]

8 ) Don't feed the trolls!

ginlyn

[athersgeo]

9) Don't automatically assume the person you're talking to is the same nationality is you
9a) Don't automatically assume that the laws in your jurisdiction apply equally across the internet

10) Freedom of speech seldom applies!

[caranfin]

9) Don't automatically assume the person you're talking to is the same nationality is you
9a) Don't automatically assume that the laws in your jurisdiction apply equally across the internet

9b) When someone does specify their nationality (or, as is the case on Ehell, you're posting on a forum that has declared itself a certain nationality), don't go on and on about how things are done in your country unless that was part of the question. For example, if a person from Bridlandia asks a question about bridesmaid dresses and makes it clear that in Bridlandia, the bridesmaid always pays for her own dress, don't sidetrack the thread by discussing, in great depth, how this simply isn't done in Maidsland.

[snowball's chance]

9a) Don't automatically assume that the laws in your jurisdiction apply equally across the internet

I'd change this to: Don't assume anything about the law in any juristiction unless you are a legal professional or can back up your claim another way ("when my purse was stolen, the police told me . . ." ).

[athersgeo]

9a) Don't automatically assume that the laws in your jurisdiction apply equally across the internet

I'd change this to: Don't assume anything about the law in any juristiction unless you are a legal professional or can back up your claim another way ("when my purse was stolen, the police told me . . ." ).

I think that's actually a slightly different rule. I can't count the number of times in online arguments when I've been accused of having broken a specifically American law (the day I got told I was unconstitutional was pretty amusing) because the person just assumed that the internet = America therefore all laws that applied were American. (And before I get accused of being "down" on Americans, I've seen Australians and Brits do much the same thing.)

Maybe a corollary to the corollary?

[matf]

How can we have online etiquette without mentioning Scritzy's Coke Rule??

[Nurvingiel]

8 ) Don't feed the trolls!

ginlyn

This, so much.

To elaborate, if you think (or know) that someone is a troll, ignore them.  Replying to a troll's post is "feeding" the troll; it just encourages that person to troll more since they're usually seeking attention.  Ignore the post, but reporting the post or member to a moderator is fine.

[M-theory]

9) Don't automatically assume the person you're talking to is the same nationality is you
9a) Don't automatically assume that the laws in your jurisdiction apply equally across the internet

10) Freedom of speech seldom applies!

This is one of my top pet peeves. Thank you.

[Sycorax]

Hello, Nurvingiel,

To elaborate, if you think (or know) that someone is a troll, ignore them.  Replying to a troll's post is "feeding" the troll; it just encourages that person to troll more since they're usually seeking attention.  Ignore the post, but reporting the post or member to a moderator is fine.

A long, long time ago as the internet wasn't even up yet in my country, I was playing around in a mailbox net. There I met the first troll of my life and by dealing with him I got an advise from my sysop (the guy who owned the mailbox - and who's now my lawyer and tax expert). He told me that for dealing with trolls one should always think: "You can't type as fast as I can hit the 'delete' key."

Sycorax
"It works rather well with me ..."

[Venus193]

Posting ones from the other thread that weren't here:

Observe the rules of anything you post on.  If profane words and visuals with nudity are forbidden, do not use them. 

In an internet discussion, read the entire thread before posting.  It is tiresome to participants to repeat themselves in response to you and tiresome to subsequent readers to see the same answers repeated by others.

Stay on topic.

Even if the forum/site doesn't have rules about this, please limit the size of your sig photos or graphics.  It is annoying to other readers to have to scroll through two or more screen lengths to get to the bottom of your post, especially if the text is only a single line or word.

When forwarding anything please remove all the other headers in between.  Some people's e-mail programs create nested attachments which can become 20 or more layers deep, so it is rude to make them open the item 20 or more times to get to the cartoon or joke you were intending to forward.  It should also be considered rude to forward people's e-mail addresses to strangers.

[Black Delphinium]

-Don't use people's IRL(in real life) names on the internet without permission, or post their pictures.

[kareng57]

1.  Don't type in all caps, all bold, or all italics.  This is the online equivalent of shouting.

I wish more people understood this.  I deal with someone on a daily basis, through email, as do a number of other analysts.  Everything he sends is in caps and that is what he's known for, negatively, around our office. "You answered a question from Mr. X?  That's the shouting guy, right?"

You don't want to be known as the shouting guy or girl!

For sure - many people just don't seem to get this.  They'll be puzzled and say "but it's faster!" - because of not having to hit the Shift key, of course.

IMO it's not just all-capitals, though.  Even messages that have every third word capitalised or bolded for "emphasis", and most sentences ending in exclamation marks, can be quite wearying to read.  Especially in a work situation - the sender might think that he/she is trying to get across the point of how serious an issue this is.  To the recipient, it can look more like drama king/queen tendencies.