Concept in Definition ABC

You don't dress the same way to attend an informal barbecue in your neighbor's garden, as you do to go to a reception with foreign diplomats. In the same way, in a social meeting we must take into account whether we speak with a person of Western culture or with a person from the Middle East or the Far East, since at some point we can make a gesture or say something inconvenient without want it... and without even knowing it.

Knowing how to behave, how to dress, or what to do and not do at all times is what is called etiquette. The Internet also has its own label, its rules of social behavior, the set of which are called netiquette.

The netiquette was born from the hand of the Internet users themselves due to the need to avoid misunderstandings between people who communicate in a distant way and who, eventually, may belong to different cultures

In addition to establishing some procedures formalities that, on the other hand, are also present in “real world” encounters and conversations, although like these, the

netiquette It is increasingly unknown by Internet users due to the overcrowding of the Internet and the entry into it of people with a low technological culture compared to that of the pioneers.

This is not bad in itself, or at least it would not be if all Internet users knew how to behave, but this, unfortunately, is not the case.

In the early / mid-nineties, when there was a massive influx of the Internet among end users, connecting and accessing the resources Networking was not that simple, and required some training and technical knowledge.

So, for example, setting up a modem connection in Windows 3.1 required dealing with drivers in DOS, with a program like Trumpet Winsock, and with the clients of the different services.

Technical knowledge was also accompanied by knowledge of cyberculture and, usually, also an interest in it.

In all this time, the netiquette has never been formally regulated by any institution, although compilations of this have appeared code, complete enough to be considered as canonical.

In practice, netiquette It consists of a set of rules that indicate what can and should not be done in online communication

Let's see some examples:

• Writing everything in capital letters is considered to be like yelling. And certainly, IF I WRITE IT ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS, the text jumps more to the eye, and intuitively gives this sensation of wanting to impose the authority and scream. Writing a text in capital letters on the Internet is considered like screaming anywhere, be it at home or on the street, in a public or private conversation.
• Don't feed the troll, a expression in English which literally means don't feed the troll. The trolls are Internet users who act in bad faith, especially in forums of debate and news comment threads or blog posts, or in chats, slandering and seeking to sow the weeds. The phrase refers to never answering them, ignoring them since, in this way, they will go the other way, since what they want is attention.
• The Internet is an open network, share knowledge, and never take advantage of people who do not have that knowledge, on the contrary, help them by sharing. This practice dates back to the most collaborative origins of the network of networks, an aspect that is still very present (luckily).
• Treat everyone as you would like to be treated or, in other words, be gentle and polite, because it is what we all want to receive from others.

• Use the emoticons (smileys) to help make sense of phrases that may lead to more than one interpretation. Because it is not the same to say "you are stupid" what "you are stupid 😉 truth?
• Try to keep your messages from being unnecessarily long, clear and to the point. In this way, you will save time and it will also save your interlocutors.
• In the forums, try not to ask twice about the same topic. Before you ask, make sure that no one has asked the same thing as you before. If you have to make a variation on the original question, do it in the same thread.
• If you have to repeat the communication of someone with the aim of citing it, eliminate those parts that are not necessary, in order to summarize the information and avoid wasting time.

The netiquette It is not something static, it has evolved over time, mainly due to the fact that they have gone incorporating new technologies and new forms of communication to the spectrum of available tools a few years ago.

One of these new avenues that has been opened is that of smart mobile phones or smartphones

And among the contributions to the netiquette that the smartphones, is the one to lower the volume of the phone when we are in some place where we can disturb, such as a hospital, church or conference.

Photos: Fotolia - Prawny / Imaginando

Topics in Netiquette