Nettiquette Rules

As in life, the Internet has its own etiquette. It got its name “Nettiquette”. A netiquette is a generally accepted format for the behavior of an Internet user, which ensures comfortable communication with the rest of the community.

It is important to take into account that nettiquette cannot be considered generally accepted and unique for everyone. Different communities have their own rules of conduct, their own netiquette, this must be reckoned with. But everyone should know the basic rules of online behavior. It is the most common rules that I have given below.

The main nettiquette rules

Rule 1. Remember that you are communicating with a real person. With this rule, it is necessary to emphasize the importance of everyday etiquette when communicating with people online. It is customary to thank, greet, and say goodbye as in real conversation.

Rule 2. Use community language. We agree that in every community, it is necessary to communicate in their “language”, but our advice to you, write competently. Otherwise, having lost literacy, it will be very difficult to re-study yourself later. I say this from personal experience, because for four years I was fond of chats and forums before starting a business, where I left all my knowledge of the correct language. This created additional difficulties for people in further correspondence with colleagues and partners.

Rule 3. Don’t offend. I am constantly amazed at how people, communicating online, feel absolute impunity. Insulting a stranger on the web is sometimes easier than saying hello to him. Be above it all and never get personal. After all, if in a conversation you can say on emotions and forget about it after a couple of days, then your record in the public community will remain for a certain period of time. Your views and approaches may change over time, but your insult will remain a negative on your reputation. On the Internet, this blows are called “flame”. This does not mean that you have to keep silent all the time. If you do not agree with a person, say so, but criticize not him, but his point of view.

Rule 4. Do not get out of the point. On the Internet, repeated departure from the topic is called off-topic. If you are writing on a topic, do not deviate from it and write strictly to the point. Also, you should not write messages that are direct or indirect advertising in nature as many community members have a very negative attitude towards such messages.

Rule 5. Do not write words in big letters. On the web, the use of Caps lock is perceived as the statement tone raise or an aggressive attitude. Also, when using upper case, the readability of the text deteriorates sharply. Try not to use it in practice at all. Also, don’t overuse the string of punctuation marks. This is annoying, as well.

Rule 6. Use search tools and FAQs. The advice may seem trivial, but few people follow it. While in communities or forums, not everyone reads the FAQ, so they ask a question, the answer to which is on this list already. This is very annoying for the community administrators, because you thereby disrespect their work and time. Questions, answers to which have already been published in earlier topics, cause a similar reaction. To avoid such situations, we advise you to always use search tools. This not only will not cause aggression from the administrators, but will also significantly speed up the receipt of an answer to your question.

Rule 7. Don’t spam. Perhaps, the meaning of the word “spam” does not need to be explained to anyone, everyone has faced it almost every day. We are all annoyed by these messages from unknown persons, to which we didn’t give the permission. So, most importantly, you yourself do not turn into an object of irritation. Even if you really want to send out a mass message, do it as personalized as possible, and explain the reason for your letter from the first lines.

Rule 8. Help others in the network. It is so accepted that a lot of questions appear on the Web from users like you and me. If you have something to answer a question, take a minute and answer. Don’t miss out on opportunities to help people. Help can be expressed in tips, links, content.

Rule 9. Be more tolerant. If you yourself have asked a question, but it has been left unattended for a long time, you should not write angry messages. Be patient or find another resource for an answer. Also, keep tolerance when communicating with interlocutors, many of them write illiterately and violate many of the netiquette rules. Do not rush to break off relations with him, remember how many mistakes you made at first.

Rule 10. Answer everyone and quickly. Just as you do not like to wait, so any Internet user does not want to be in standby mode. If you received a letter, try to answer it promptly. Efficiency means no later than 24 hours. Answer everyone without exception, even if you cannot help, write about it.

Rule 11. Leave feedback. Reviews are a versatile tool that builds loyalty to you. Positive reviews about a resource, content or product will increase loyalty and interest in you. You will be immediately assigned to the rank of friends. Therefore, write positive reviews more often. But if you find typos, bloopers or other errors in the resource or content, be sure to report it, but not with a reproach, but with a recommendation to correct it for more convenient use. The right criticism is also perceived positively, because people do not leave feedback to those companies that they are completely indifferent to.

Every Internet user may undergo nettiquette quiz to find out how polite you are. This netiquette quiz is available for free on the web.