Miss Parry’s Guide to Netiquette

We all teach our children how to behave properly. Although we rarely see it ourselves, once in a while we hear from other families that our children are actually polite. Online manners are no different. There are rules for proper behavior in cyberspace called “Netiquette.” And it’s a good thing we have them, because people do outrageous things when they get behind a keyboard - things they would ordinarily never do in real space. Somehow, whether it’s the fact that they think they’re anonymous, or that the Net brings out the daredevil in us, I don’t know. But please don’t let your kids fall into the trap of saying and doing things online that they know shouldn’t be said or done. We need to teach them that they can be traced, and that nothing is ever truly anonymous online. Everything they say should be said with the understanding that others will know, sooner or later, that they said it.

There are some other basic pointers you should know and teach your children if you want them to be good “netizens”:

• Get to know the rules before you say or do anything on-line. Some discussion boards and chat rooms have special rules about what you can and can’t say or do. Since some people can be very critical to those who break the rules, knowing the rules first may save you and your child needless heartache.
• Think before you type. Make sure that what you say is appropriate, won’t result in flaming, and puts your best cyberfoot forward. The one thing you can count on is that everything you say online can come back to haunt you.
• Don’t be critical of others, especially newbies, even if they break the rules. If you need to help or correct someone, do it by e-mail, not in a public forum like a chat room or newsgroup. Remember, everyone was a newbie once.
• Don’t waste others’ time or bandwidth. Don’t send chain e-mail, pass cyber rumors or hoaxes, or spam others (posting a message in many places at once). Don’t carbon copy (Cc:) people just because you can. Copy only those who need to read something.
• Protect the privacy of others. Don’t openly list someone’s e-mail address in a large Cc: without their permission. Instead, use a Bcc: (blind carbon copy) to protect their privacy. Don’t use anyone’s password without their permission.
• Don’t take things without paying for them, like shareware.

These things are bad Netiquette, too:

• Using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS - it’s considered shouting and is hard on the eyes.
• Flaming - inciting or provoking an argument.
• Posting false or rude information about someone else.
• Sending a large attachment without asking if it’s okay first.
• Referring to someone by their real name in a chat room or channel.
• Sending e-mail to people you don’t know, advertising something. (It’s another kind of spam.)
• Talking about something off-topic in a special topic chat room
• Not waiting your turn or following the chat room or channel rules in a special online event.

These are all no-no's. Remember that just because you’re hiding out behind a computer monitor, you aren’t exempt from correct and thoughtful communications.

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