What is netiquette (netiquette, netiquette): rules and regulations

Netiquette (Netiquette) is a system of rules for communication and behavior on the World Wide Web. The network was invented to make it comfortable and easy for users to communicate with each other. The rules are not special, but they make network communications more convenient for users.

When communicating on the Internet, you must use common sense and respect your interlocutors. You can defend your point of view, but you should not insult other people. Online you need to adhere to exactly the same rules of behavior as in real life.

A competent answer, absence of flood, truthful information, tact - all this is included in the network system. Such a system represents the rules of good manners that are accepted in a civilized society.

The impersonality of communication on the Internet allows users to forget that they are communicating with real people. It is quite difficult to establish contact with a person whom we cannot hear or see. The network was created to solve this problem.

Network etiquette is also called the section of social ethics. These are general principles of behavior that users must adhere to. The creator of ethical standards was the technical community, and the World Wide Web was originally intended for the scientific elite. Now communities are being formed with their own norms and rules.

To make a good impression on your interlocutor, you need to adhere to netiquette. People must respect each other, think through every message, and format the text correctly. Participants in forums, chats, social networks, and email users adhere to a culture of communication.

Peculiarities

The rules of the network are simple and do not differ at all from the norms of behavior when communicating in everyday life. Politeness, respect for the interlocutor, common sense. Defending your point of view is not prohibited, but insulting other people is unacceptable.

High-quality Internet communication means the absence of flooding (a flow of non-thematic, unnecessary information transmitted in large volumes), competent and tactful answers, and truthful information. In a civilized society, this is simply good manners that you should adhere to if you want to be taken seriously.

This is all the more important because online communication is quite impersonal: the interlocutor is neither visible nor heard, which is why many do not always realize that they are in contact with a real person.

Did you know? Initially, the Internet was intended for the scientific elite. It is for communication in this environment that the norms of netiquette were developed.

Nowadays, most communities establish their own norms and rules of communication. On some portals, slander, advertising of third-party information, plagiarism, misinformation with the intent to harm, and the like are perceived as violations.

The main thing is to be polite

Despite the fact that communication on the Internet implies some liberties, the most correct decision is to remain faithful to the canons of classical etiquette: to be courteous and polite, not to overstep the bounds of decency, to monitor literacy and purity of speech. On the Internet, we present ourselves mostly through text (less often through pictures and videos), so mastering the skill of words is very important for creating a positive image on the Internet.

The definition of what a network is includes not only the ability to communicate politely and knowledge of some network norms, but also implies a huge personal background of the user. The more educated and educated you are, the more network savvy you are.

Basic Concepts

When studying what netiquette is, you first need to understand the concepts that every user encounters when accessing the World Wide Web. And only then apply the rules of online communication.

Places to chat

There are chat rooms, websites, and forums as platforms for communication and information exchange. There you can ask questions, share your experience and simply communicate with those people who are interesting. It doesn’t matter how far they are from you.

The most accessible and easiest place to communicate are forums. This is the name given to highly specialized sites where like-minded people and people with similar interests gather. On the Internet you can find many forums for motorists, young mothers, travelers, webmasters, handicraft enthusiasts, pet owners, and the like. Information is presented in the form of text, pictures and graphics. You can either create a new topic or ask questions in existing threads. And, of course, just chat in the comments.
The advantage and main value of chats is communication “here and now”. Many people like live communication, when they can immediately get an answer. Chats can be group or personal.

Naturally, before you start communicating in a chat or on a forum, you should study the rules. Violators are often “banned” - their ability to write in comments is temporarily suspended or they are completely excluded from the community.

Violations and errors

What you can get banned for, which is usually not welcome on forums:

flood - information that does not provide any benefit or value to the interlocutors. This is the name for messages that are not related to the topic under discussion. A flooder is a user who sends monotonous messages or emoticons to everyone. This irritates other forum participants. In addition, such messages slow down page loading, which creates another annoying factor;
provocative remarks (flames), which are expressed only to provoke a person into an argument, a showdown. Online flames are generally referred to as insults, personal attacks, gender, religious and other discrimination. You should not react to them, because this will only provoke the flamer to continue a meaningless discussion;
messages typed using the Caps Lock key are called Caps. Such messages irritate users, as do the large number of emoticons and the tendency to put a lot of exclamation marks all the time.

When contacting users on forums or in private messages, do not commit these violations of communication ethics.

Rules for using messengers

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Observe Quiet Hour. Agree with your colleague when you can write to him in the evening hours. If there is no specific agreement with the person, then do not write before 9:00 and later than 22:00.
Minimize uninformative messages. Don't ask unnecessary questions, get straight to the point.
Send emoticons, GIFs and stickers only if you are sure that you and your interlocutors understand them the same way.
Send voice messages only by agreement with the interlocutor. Remember the principle of symmetry that was mentioned above. You can check with your interlocutor whether he has a normal attitude towards voice sounds.
Establish rules for group communication. It is important that the administrator monitors order in the chat.

Rules

Network rules for communication between users can be divided into three groups:

Administrative - it is necessary to adhere to the generally accepted names of topics, the method of citing, as well as the level of admissibility of advertising. Flaming may also be acceptable, but within certain limits.
Technical standards are compliance with a certain length of lines, sentences, and the number of characters in messages. Some abbreviations may be printed in capital letters.
Emotional - relate to the use of emoticons, the way of addressing “you” or “you”, supporting newcomers or ignoring them, etc.

According to netiquette, if a person is accustomed to using slang expressions in everyday life, they should not be used on the Internet. Not all users welcome this. Additionally, it is worth reviewing the message for grammatical and lexical errors before sending it.

The most important rule of netiquette is simple: do not do or write anything that you could not do or say while looking your interlocutor in the eyes.

Email

To carry out business correspondence, receive messages from other users, and also to be able to register on forums, you need to learn how to use e-mail.

First, a profile is created - therefore it is important to fill it out carefully, because your name and signature will be seen by all users to whom you send messages. It is recommended that you use your real name.

Next, indicate the subject of the message - this will make it clear to your interlocutor what you want from him. In addition, if the recipient wants to re-read it again, he will easily find your message among letters from anonymous senders by title.

Write concisely and to the point. There is no need to go into lengthy explanations. Most netizens skim the message vertically without reading the text. Therefore, it is important to stick to the subject of the letter. A few more simple rules of netiquette when correspondence:

write correctly, you can find free editors online that will help you correct mistakes;
do not include personal information in the letter. Fraudsters often intercept messages in order to obtain personal data, passwords, and access to bank accounts. In addition, the message may fall into the public domain, so do not write something that is not intended for prying eyes;
sign your messages. In the messenger or on the website, you can set the automatic addition of a signature to your messages.

If you receive messages by email, try to respond to them as quickly as possible. Firstly, this way you will demonstrate your respect to your interlocutor, and secondly, you will not lose the letter in the stream of other messages and notifications.

Forums, chats, social networks

In chats and forums, users communicate less formally, but even here there should be no insults to the interlocutors. This means not only insults to the individual, but also to the opponent’s relatives, various discrimination, ridicule about someone’s habits and hobbies.

In the rulebook of forums you can often find a ban on excessive quoting (“overquoting”). Select the phrase you want to comment on, not the entire text.

Forum members often sign their signatures, as in emails. They are short but succinct, often of a humorous nature. Just don’t write negative or provocative statements in your signature. There is also netiquette on social networks:

You cannot use other people’s photographs or video content without the consent of the author;
disclosure to other users of information taken from the private profile of acquaintances and friends is prohibited;
it is prohibited to add friends to communities and groups if they have not expressed their consent;
there is no need to send advertising information (spam) or offers to join some online game to everyone in a private message;
most virtual friends do not respond with displeasure to persistent requests to like or share content with others;
No one has canceled the rules of competent writing here either;
Nude photos, trolling other users (provocations or bullying on the Internet), registration under a false name are prohibited.

Regardless of what community you communicate in, you cannot instruct about committing illegal actions and, of course, you should not be interested in ways to commit them.

Ethics in the electronic communication environment

Let's dwell on serious ethical issues.

Even if you have achieved great heights in a certain area, you should not start constantly making comments and teaching other people. Snobbery looks ugly, alienates interlocutors and spoils their mood. Try not to humiliate people by pointing out their lack of knowledge in any area. When they ask for advice, you can help with a detailed explanation.
Abuse is strictly forbidden! Even if someone starts doing this, don’t respond in kind, don’t stoop to that level. It looks ugly, even if the other side provoked the conflict. Remain a cultured person in any case.
You cannot initiate a conflict yourself, even if feelings are seriously hurt. When you see that your interlocutor cannot be convinced, he is determined, there is no point in stooping to mutual insults. In such a case, it is much better to stop communication and close the topic.

Be aware of ethics in the electronic communication environment.

Netiquette

In addition to the rules of netiquette already described, there are others that reflect personal qualities and, if followed, make it possible to create a good reputation online.

Humanity

In any situation, even under pressure and trolling, maintain a respectful attitude towards people. In relation to the one who “presses” you, this will help neutralize the negativity. A respectful attitude towards all other users will not give rise to offense or misunderstanding. Control your statements online. Remember: although you can't see the other person, they are on the other side of the screen.

Self-control

Harsh and aggressive statements not only can offend someone, but can later play a disservice. Everything is recorded on the network. Verbally expressed insults disappear and are erased from memory over time. But the printed message remains. Even if you delete it, it will not be completely erased. Experienced hackers can easily restore it and use it against you.

Patience

Many users do not think about netiquette when accessing the Internet. This can be seen in the messages they send. Stop yourself when you want to correct or criticize the “rude” person, evaluate his communication style. Be patient and tolerant with everyone. This way you will not give rise to disputes and provocations to those who come online specifically for this. It will also save you time, effort and nerves.

Respect your interlocutor

You should not impose yourself on anyone; respect the right of others to privacy. In reality, outside the Internet, many people lead an active lifestyle and are not able to be online for days to communicate and share experiences.

Even if you were promised an answer in the near future, force majeure situations can always happen when a person fails to keep his promise: Internet access is blocked, there is no electricity, the computer breaks down and 1001 other life circumstances.

Safety

The advantage of online communication is anonymity. You decide for yourself how to position yourself online, how to present yourself. The advantage of anonymity is security, but the disadvantage is the possibility of fraud. You cannot leave personal data in the public domain or transfer it to unfamiliar users. This applies to everything: logins and passwords, personal photos and videos. If you don't want them to become the property of scammers, don't post them where they can be found.

Be polite

Netiquette and the necessary security of communication require polite treatment of the interlocutor. Don’t write too much, keep your emotions to yourself - this will protect you from negative and aggressive statements addressed to you and threats.

Not all users adhere to netiquette, allowing themselves harsh and obscene statements towards others. Such communication will not lead to constructive dialogue. Turn a blind eye to the mistakes of others, do not get involved in conflict situations and do not allow them to arise.

Willingness to help

If you notice that someone is in a difficult situation, remember yourself when you were new to the Internet and help someone who is now having a difficult time. Even if the problem seems nonsense and the questions are stupid, do not be harsh with beginners. By mocking their difficulties, you assert yourself at the expense of weaker users. And this is unethical and unworthy of such an intelligent and comprehensively developed person as you probably are.

What to post and what to write about

What is a networket? Rules of conduct in general, not just communication. This also includes self-expression on social networks. You can use your Facebook account for any purpose, but in order for people to get an idea of you, the page still needs to be designed somehow.

You should not post a photo of yourself in a swimsuit or drinking beer in nature for everyone to see. Intimate should remain intimate, and your family leisure time may not always have a positive impression on your business partners. Everything that ends up on social networks is immediately assessed from an aesthetic point of view - if your photo falls short in these parameters, then others may perceive you as a person with bad taste.

Even if the photos are very beautiful, you should not overuse everyday photographs on the same topic - daily selfies in the elevator, endless photos of a baby, food, drinks, and so on. Even a sunset at sea can get boring if you take pictures and post it every day.

Instagram and cats

The current network rules apply to all social networks, including Instagram. The main emphasis here is shifted from text to visual images, so all the rules regarding posting photos are suitable for Instagram. Do not overuse monotonous topics and an excessive number of hashtags. Also, you shouldn’t add hashtags to the text if you sign photos - it’s better to put them in a separate comment or leave them at the very bottom of the signature.

If 90% of the photos in your account are photos of a cat, then try to diversify the content in some way (unless you have a specialized blog about animals). Of course, cat photos are a win-win option to attract subscribers, but is there really nothing else going on in your life?

Typical user mistakes

The most common mistakes made by Internet users include the following:

use of profanity;
inciting disputes and strife, insulting people;
theft, fraud, deception;
conversations on abstract topics in inappropriate places.

The concept of “ethical code of online communication” appeared relatively recently. But the foundation for it was laid 2 decades ago, when the World Wide Web became a place for active communication between representatives of different cultures, states, faiths, social groups and professions.

The emergence of virtual ethics is explained by the need for a single standard of communication acceptable to every member of the online community.