Ten Ways to Show Good Manners on Online Forums
Online forums have become quite popular in recent years because it allows like minded people to gather in one place and talk about their passions. Forums are wonderful if you get folks that are reasonable and consider others. Like most things, there are usually a few bad apples that ruin the bunch for everyone.
Here are ten ways to make sure you are not counted among them on the online forums you frequent:
Read and know the rules before posting – Forums are just like any other community where rules are concerned. They are all generally the same but they all have a few that are different. Read them all the way through and follow them when you visit.
Search for your topic before posting – Nothing is more annoying than to talk about the same thing in fifty different places. Help do your part towards avoiding this by searching your topic before posting.
Don't spam the forum – Spam is not wanted no matter where you are visiting. Read this particular part of the forum rules carefully and know what you can and can't do.
Keep personal problems personal – Nobody cares if you hate neener67's avatar or not. Keep personal issues outside the forums and you will have a peaceful community.
Never attack, even when it seems deserved – There will be flamers that visit the forums on occasion and you will have to learn to avoid, deflect or ignore them to keep the forum calm. This is a special skill shared by only a handful of ninja forum participants. Be one of the few and resist the urge to respond when flamers visit.
Resist slang unless you know it will be understood – Slang is very frustrating to the new user if it is unique to only a few people. If you have secret decoder languages that you share with a few others, send them email. The rest of us want to know what is going on too.
Help as much as you ask for help - If you are at a forum that helps out the community in some respect, be part of the solution. People are usually prepared to help, but you need to do your part once you have the hang of things. Help with a kind spirit.
Don't SCREAM – All caps is very obnoxious and it won't get the response you want.
Stay on topic – When you are talking about how deep to plant your tomatoes, don't suddenly wander off into discussions about Big Brother on CBS. Stick with the topic and open a new thread if you must.
Consider how it sounds without the emphasis – When you go to post something online, read it out loud to yourself deadpanned. In other words, read it only as it is written and without any emphasis on any words. Not everyone will put the emphasis where they should so that is how it will sound. Does it sound right? If not, rewrite it and do it again.
Online forums are fun but you have to keep the community clean to truly have something great.
What other rules do forum users need to follow? Sound off below in the comments section!
