Netiquette is a set of social conventions for online interactions. Rules vary across cultures and websites, but generally emphasize treating others with respect and professionalism. Breaches can result in bans or ostracism. Users should consult site policies and treat others as they would like to be treated.
Netiquette is a collection of social conventions that dictate how people interact with each other on the Internet. The term is a portmanteau of “net”, short for “Internet” and “etiquette”. Like social etiquette in real life, the rules of netiquette are commonly in flux and can vary significantly among different groups of Internet users and across different cultures. Some websites even post their own netiquette guidelines under headings like “rules” or “comment policies” to provide guidance to their users.
The original rules in the early days of the internet were designed to facilitate clear communication. They revolved around adopting conventions that would make newsgroups, e-mail, lists, bulletin boards, and so on, easy to read. For example, users have been discouraged from typing in all caps, as it looks aggressive, and have been told to keep signatures attached to emails and messages simple to avoid cluttering the screens of users trying to read. As the Internet has become more complex, so have the rules of netiquette.
Different websites may have different standards. On some websites, for example, users have an “anything goes” policy, which can include personal attacks, defamatory statements, and the distribution of objectionable material. Other websites exercise more control over the content users post, trying to keep conversations clean, relevant, and interesting. Moderators can be used to enforce these rules, and people who regularly break netiquette can find themselves banned from a site.
As with social etiquette, a focal point of netiquette is treating other people with courtesy and respect, whether they are users on a bulletin board or commentators on a newspaper website. For people who use the Internet for professional communication, a high level of professionalism is also expected. Professional netiquette discourages the use of smileys, also known as smileys, and places emphasis on correcting spelling and punctuation, formatting communications clearly and professionally, and avoiding small talk, gossip, and other distractions. Essentially, etiquette for electronic business communications is identical to real-world etiquette; if something would seem inappropriate in a printed letter, it would be wrong in an email.
There have been some infamous breaches of professional etiquette rules, in the form of emails sent to the wrong people or documents that were meant to be private, but ended up being distributed en masse after recipients took offense at their content. . Some of these incidents simply shamed the perpetrator, while others resulted in resignations and firings. Individuals who violate a community’s observed etiquette may be banned or ostracized by other users, just as people who break etiquette in the real world may be treated coldly.
Because rules can be so variable and confusing, people who aren’t sure how to behave on a website may want to leverage published site policies to gather insights into how users are expected to behave. They can also look at examples on the website to see how people act, and they can always fall back on the age-old tradition of treating others as they would like to be treated. In the realm of email, instant messaging, and other private communications, people may want to consult company guidelines when corresponding professionally and consider using etiquette guides when dealing with personal communications.
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