Yep, you guessed it. Just as manners and etiquette are required in a real life community, so there are online as well.
In a nutshell, here are some basic forum netiquette guidelines, taken from Wikipedia.
Forum etiquette
Certain rules of unspoken etiquette are recommended to be followed when using Internet forums. They include:
- One should read all the rules and guidelines established by the community. Some communities may have different regulations on a particular subject.
- One should always be courteous to other forum members.
- Before creating a new topic thread, one is advised to search to see if a similar topic already exists.
- Contributors should follow standard grammar and spelling rules and avoid slang. Of course this practice is rather subjective. Context is everything!
- If the forum is categorised, one should strive to post in the correct section.
- When making a technical inquiry, one should include as much technical information as possible, especially in the subject line.
- Contributors are asked to stay on-topic.
- Contributors should avoid double posting and Crossposting.
- To avoid appearing self-absorbed, one should respond to topics started by others more often than starting topics of one’s own.
- Contributors should avoid the use of all CAPITAL LETTERS in posts. ALL CAPS is considered “shouting” and causes readability issues.
- One should try to refrain from lashing back at a poorly behaving member or participating in a flame war; instead, notify the messageboard’s staff of the event.
- When quoting a previous post, one should only include the relevant portion of that post. Contributors are requested to keep in mind that their audience can likely still see the message they are quoting on the same screen and can read it again if need be.
- Signatures on forums should generally have a maximum height of 100 pixels, as to not cause clutter.
But don’t stop there! To maximise your online relationships, look into it further. Do some more reading here:
http://en.wikipedia….wiki/Netiquette
and
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/
The above site is fairly definitive. Listed is the ten most basic but important guidelines of netiquette:
- Rule 1: Remember the Human
- Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behaviour online that you follow in real life
- Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace
- Rule 4: Respect other people’s time and bandwidth
- Rule 5: Make yourself look good online
- Rule 6: Share expert knowledge
- Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under control
- Rule 8: Respect other people’s privacy
- Rule 9: Don’t abuse your power
- Rule 10: Be forgiving of other people’s mistakes
Of course, each community has its own little hot spots that should be avoided and other points which aren’t so rigid. However, Rule 8 is a must for any type of relationship- in real life or online.
