Netiquette is the way you communicate online. This guide will help you be a better citizen of the Internet.
1. Share Your Knowledge
Share your experience. Share your opinions, ideas, thoughts and feelings about the subject or topic being discussed in the group or forum where you are participating in a discussion.
2. Respect Everyone
Respect is the most important part of netiquette. This includes. respecting other people’s time. If you ask someone a question, be sure that you have read the relevant information yourself and understand it before asking. Don’t expect others to waste their time answering questions they already answered in their post or FAQ document; use search engines! Respecting other people’s opinions. People may hold different opinions than yours, and that’s okay! Your goal should be to learn from each other rather than argue about whose opinion is better or more valid (which isn’t possible). If someone disagrees with what you’ve said, try not taking it personally; instead focus on understanding why they disagree with you so that both sides can gain new knowledge from each other’s perspectives. Respecting other people’s emotions when discussing sensitive topics such as politics or religion–and remember that sometimes even playful teasing may come across as offensive if delivered without care.
3. Read Previous Posts
Read the thread before you post. Read the thread before you reply. Read the thread before you comment. Read the thread before you respond to an existing comment or question, as well as any additional information that may have been posted since then (like a link to an article). And if people are still posting after all of these steps have been taken, then I think it’s safe to say that they’re probably not going anywhere anytime soon–and now is a good time for us all to take a breather and cool off before we get ourselves into any more trouble than we already have!
4. Forgive
This is probably the hardest of all to do, but it’s one of the most important rules. When you make a mistake or someone else does something wrong, forgive quickly and move on. Don’t hold grudges; they only serve as barriers between people and communities, making them less able to communicate effectively with one another. Don’t be an angry person; keep your emotions under control at all times by practicing self-control when faced with provocation or frustration in online discussions (and in real life too!). Learn how not take things personally–even if they are directed specifically at you–and instead focus on what matters: finding solutions rather than dwelling on past grievances that can’t be changed anyway because they’re simply part of life experience now! Finally…don’t be a bully! If someone says something mean about you online…don’t respond by telling them how stupid/ugly/fat etc. They are because then no one wins except maybe trolls who just want attention anyway so ignore them instead.
5. Be Brief, Clear & To The Point
You want to communicate your thoughts clearly and effectively in an online discussion. You can do this by keeping your message short and to the point. Long posts that ramble on and include unnecessary details may confuse other participants or make them lose interest in what you have to say. In addition, many people are busy with work or other activities that take up their time so they may not have time to read long messages carefully before replying; therefore it’s best not to write excessively long messages unless absolutely necessary! It is also helpful if you give examples of short vs long messages so people know what types of information works well online versus what doesn’t work well.
6. Stay On Topic
When you’re part of a discussion, it’s important to stay on topic. If you stray from the topic at hand and start discussing something else, or if your comments are not related to what has been said in the thread so far, this can be confusing for other members of your community. In addition, if someone makes a comment about something specific (for example: “I love cats!”), then it’s considered rude not to respond with something relevant (“Me too!”). This is called “derailing” or “hijacking”–and it happens all too often! If someone else starts going off on a tangent (changing subjects), don’t feel like you have to follow along just because they’re talking about something interesting–you can always bring them back around by gently reminding them about why we were having this conversation in the first place (e.g., “I agree that dogs are great pets too; however I’d like us all here today so talk specifically about cats”).
7. Clarify Humor
Humor can be a great way to lighten the mood and get people talking. But if you’re using it in a serious discussion, make sure your audience is on board with your sense of humor. If you’re not sure whether or not they will understand your joke, ask them! That way, if there’s confusion about what’s funny and what isn’t–or if someone doesn’t think something is funny at all–you can clarify before things get too far off track.
8. Keep Capitalization
The use of capital letters is an important part of netiquette. Capitalization is used to emphasize words and phrases, as well as show the start of sentences and proper nouns (e.g., people’s names). Here are some examples:
- “I had a great time at the party last night.”
- “I HAD A GREAT TIME AT THE PARTY LAST NIGHT!”
In the first example above, we see that there are no capital letters in this sentence because it does not require any emphasis or special treatment for clarity purposes (aside from maybe making sure you don’t misspell anything). In contrast, if you want people to know how much fun you had at that party then adding some exclamation points might be appropriate–but only if they’re needed! If someone says something like “It was so boring,” then using all caps might seem unprofessional or rude because they’re expressing their opinion on what happened rather than giving us factual information about themselves/their surroundings/etc.
9. Say ‘Please’ & ‘Thank You’
Online communication is not the same as face-to-face communication. When you’re meeting someone in person, it’s easy to read their body language and see if they’re annoyed with your request or comment. On the internet, however, people can easily hide behind their screens–so it’s important to make sure that you’re giving others the courtesy of asking nicely for what you want (and expressing appreciation when they do something nice).
10. Give A Chance Takeaway: Netiquette is the way you communicate online
Netiquette is the way you communicate online. It’s an essential part of participating in online discussions and finding like-minded people who can help you learn more about your interests. Netiquette isn’t a set of rules for proper grammar or spelling, although those are important too! Rather, netiquette helps us understand how to be kind and respectful when we communicate with others using technology tools like email or chat rooms.
Remember, the internet is a place for everyone to come together and share their ideas. We all want to be treated with respect and decency, so we should also treat others in this way. Remember that it’s okay if you make mistakes along the way! When someone makes an error in their post or comment, try not getting angry at them but instead help them out by pointing out where they went wrong so they can fix it next time around. If you take these tips into consideration when communicating online then I guarantee your life will be much easier!
