Netiquette: Difference between revisions

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imported>Tom Morris
(corrected postel's law quote)
imported>Paul Wormer
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* remembering that other users on the network are also human beings, and acting in such a way as you would want to be treated (as per the [[Golden Rule]], familiar in many ethical and religious systems)
* remembering that other users on the network are also human beings, and acting in such a way as you would want to be treated (as per the [[Golden Rule]], familiar in many ethical and religious systems)
* respecting other people's time and bandwidth - which can translate into not wasting the time of your fellow users with distractions, and not e-mailing large file attachments which can waste bandwidth of users
* respecting other people's time and bandwidth - which can translate into not wasting the time of your fellow users with distractions, and not e-mailing large file attachments which can waste bandwidth of users
* understanding that not sarcasm and humor do not always work well in online communication, and can be misinterpreted
* understanding that sarcasm and humor do not always work well in online communication, and can be misinterpreted
* not engaging in [[flaming]], [[troll (Internet)|trolling]], [[spam (Internet)|spam]] or malicious use of the network
* not engaging in [[flaming]], [[troll (Internet)|trolling]], [[spam (Internet)|spam]] or malicious use of the network
* not abusing the power that has been given - for instance, not using moderator powers on mailing lists, message boards, wikis and other systems in order to silence people you disagree with, or to invade their privacy
* not abusing the power that has been given - for instance, not using moderator powers on mailing lists, message boards, wikis and other systems in order to silence people you disagree with, or to invade their privacy

Revision as of 09:28, 16 July 2008

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This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

Netiquette is a portmanteau of "network etiquette". It was first described in IETF RFC 1855 [1]. It tries to cover the broad conventions for interacting amiably and professionally online. Different communities have different practices with regards to netiquette - what is appropriate on an anonymous image board is not appropriate on a high-level discussion group about an academic topic.

Some of the core rules of netiquette include:

  • remembering that other users on the network are also human beings, and acting in such a way as you would want to be treated (as per the Golden Rule, familiar in many ethical and religious systems)
  • respecting other people's time and bandwidth - which can translate into not wasting the time of your fellow users with distractions, and not e-mailing large file attachments which can waste bandwidth of users
  • understanding that sarcasm and humor do not always work well in online communication, and can be misinterpreted
  • not engaging in flaming, trolling, spam or malicious use of the network
  • not abusing the power that has been given - for instance, not using moderator powers on mailing lists, message boards, wikis and other systems in order to silence people you disagree with, or to invade their privacy
  • reading FAQs and other documentation before posting, and, on USENET and other forums, spending time lurking before posting so that one can pick up the practices of the group
  • Postel's Law: "Be conservative in what you do; be liberal in what you accept from others"
  • presuming ignorance rather than malice
  • not 'top posting'[2][3][4]

Netiquette at Citizendium

References

  1. RFC 1855 - Netiquette Guidelines.
  2. A. Smit and H.W. de Haan, Why is Bottom-posting better than Top-posting
  3. Eric Raymond, Jargon File, top-post
  4. Richard Kettlewell, Quoting Style