To some, serious playground maybe. Like for politicians running for presidency using the internet as one of their mediums to put down their opponents. To the intellectual, a venue to brainstorm with other wonderful minds, to exchange ideas and learn from each other. To others, a fun place to meet new people with common interests. To most, a challenging arena to make money from.
However you look at it, its fun. A playground.
And in any playground, no one wants a dirty player. We want respect even as we play. We expect all players to observe the rules, implied and expressly stated.
Nice thing with the internet is, we don't have yet this universal bible or constitution that can totally put us in jail or cast us in hell for some serious reasons. There are no expressly stated rules, except for SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), which I personally hope don't pass, but other than these, the internet is such a beautiful awesome playground.
For a harmonious maintenance of this awesome digital playground we now have, all that we should observe is the IMPLIED rules, of which I've come up with my so-called tennetiquette.
10 NET ETIQUETTE TO LIVE BY
1. Downloading from Torrents
Follow the golden rule: "Do unto others what you want to be done unto you". If you download, SEED!
If you are not familiar with the golden rule, follow Mufasa, the Lion King's Rule instead: Never take anything more than you can give. If you have downloaded a 4G file, then at least seed the same size. No buts, no ifs. Just give it back. If you know its gonna take you 2 days to download it, consider it 4 days, including the seeding.
2. Say thank you
It doesn't hurt to show appreciation. Gratitude goes a long way. It inspires the contributor to do more. If you have really enjoyed a video from YouTube or UStream or stuff like that, say so! Affirmation is a positive force. Otherwise, if you are not the talking type, don't be shy to click the LIKE button.
3. On comments, say anything but bash.
Go for constructive criticism. Be creative. Or funny.
Anything but bashing.
The real world is hell noisy and ugly already, let's spare the internet. Show some class. Even if you are a hardcore trasher, leave it on the real world and create a classy character in the internet",) For all you know, you might even like it better in the long run.
If you are soooo freaking close to typing "you effing b$%#h,that file you uploaded has the wrong season title you mo#$@#fu342r", just try to take a deep breath and type instead "you've uploaded a wrong file" or let the others know about it so they don't commit the same mistake. Believe in good karma and save your energy instead.
4. Do not have fun at the expense of someone
Revenge is a different thing.
Helping a funny video go viral is nothing wrong. Someone hurting out of embarrassment and shame caused by the video gone public is all so wrong.
We all want to laugh with our playmates. We all want to have fun. But what fun is it if you know someone on the playground is hurting so much because of the fun you're having?
Let's maintain peace in our playground. Do not hurt anyone just to have fun.
5. Exert effort to know where you are and where you should be
If you are joining a forum, don't be toooo hasty creating a new thread! Similar threads are just chaotic and it does not help anyone. Not even you. Take time, see if there's already a thread about the topic you have in your head and just go there.
Similarly, if you have are researching on something and need to have some assistance from a blog or stuff, take time to find out if your question has been asked already. Nothing is more irritating to an author than to be asked repetitively the same question again and again when clearly the answer is just right there.
If you feel lost and are not sure which site to go to for an assistance, go to Yahoo!Answers, or
Answers.com instead. That's where random questions mostly get instant answers.
6. Don't be a waste of space.
Maintain one single identity at least in every social site.
In real life, if you, by will, have multiple identity, you become a suspicious person. You must be up to something bad.
In the internet world, if you keep multiple identity in one social site, you probably are up to something bad too. If you're not, for sure, those who would discover that you are that same person claiming another name, you will be perceived suspicious. So why make it complicated? Other than that, you're wasting space on the net. For each extra account you make, you are wasting space meant for others to use. Just take enough space for yourself and let the others take the rest.
7. Learn to use the right site/apps for the right purpose.
We all know that 24 hours seem to be so short when we're on this internet playground. There's just so much to get busy with. And the last thing we want is to waste our time conversing with people using one-liner shout-out boxes when they should be using Skype or at least, an email instead.
With so many applications nowadays to facilitate our needs, it can be just so frustrating to the programmers and designers of these apps and sites to know the products are being misused.
Take for example, Facebook. Doesn't it annoy you when someone posts a long narration of his/her current status? Like, who cares? Or, maybe that person should write a blog instead, right?
Or someone sending a one-liner message using the Subject field of the email. Like, hello? How about using Twitter instead?
Let's just go to the right places using the right medium and tools instead, shall we?
Its like going to a movie theater to eat a lunch meal. Or going on a Sunday Mass to meet and chat with friends. Or going to the mall to find a quiet coffee shop to study. Like, why do that? It doesn't make any sense.
8. Give the proper acknowledgment. Link.
If you copy something to paste it on your web or blog or anywhere you claim to be your space, at least give some acknowledgment. The internet makes it so easy for us to get materials here and there, like images and texts, the least we can do to give back is acknowledge where we got it. Mufasa's rule, remember? Never take something more than you can give back. For me, personally, linking would be the best way of giving back. For example, in a comment, instead of saying "I saw it from a site...", link the actual site instead. You gained knowledge from a site, give back to that site by linking.
9. It is what it is. Respect what is being said in the profile.
If you joined a social networking site in the hope you can hook up with people of your taste, read their profile first. If they say on their profile that they are not interested in hooking up or something like that, then leave it at that. Go to the next profile. Leave that person alone.
10. Be decent.
Nobody wants to read a dad scolding his teenager son on facebook. There's nothing entertaining about that.
Nobody wants to have a break-up in public. A relationship is always a personal intimate matter and does not deserve to be feasted upon by the public when in sorrowing times. Give your relationship some dignity and keep it personal.
The Internet is now part of our way of life. Indispensable. Somehow, we just gotta extend to it our sense of right and wrong and keep struggling to live with a high standard even in the virtual world of the internet. That's how we can keep peace and order in our digital world. And hopefully, not ever needing any body or organization to police us or kill the internet freedom that we are all so awesomely enjoying at this point.