Network etiquette — 10 rules of online communication that you can't do without today
Today, the Internet occupies such a significant place in our lives that it is not surprising that online communication has its own rules of etiquette. When talking to a person in real life, we can make a mistake that can be easily corrected by using unconscious language, which easily leads us out of a dead end in conversation and fills awkward moments or oppressive silence. In the digital space, such a language is not available to us, so it is replaced by network etiquette.
Safe and comfortable communication on the web requires compliance with several very simple rules. With them, you can easily establish a dialogue with any user groups and save correspondence from toxicity, which, alas, is often present in digital communications between people. We will tell you about 10 rules on which modern network etiquette is based.
It is best to arrange an upcoming visit or even a call in personal correspondence. Having received permission in a messenger or in a letter, you can call or come to a meeting. Nowadays, calls are perceived by many as a violation of the boundaries of personality and your opponent may not like such an unexpected impulse.
At the beginning of communication, it is better to avoid excessive activity and not to bombard the interlocutor with messages, even if you have something to tell him. Try to behave the same way as in everyday life — build communication gradually, be sure to take into account the person's response and try not to seem intrusive.
Before you start a conversation, study the chat or community in which you want to communicate. Communities may have their own rules and requirements, including language. Also, there are almost always forbidden and undesirable topics on the forums, raising which you will not show yourself from the best side. Avoid starting communication with pictures and emoticons, especially if you are not sure that this format of correspondence will be supported by others.
By all means, we address the opponent by name. It's just like in real life — it's nice for a person to see that his first and last name are known and that he is not just a faceless user for you. Unfortunately, we often forget about it or ignore the spelling of names with a capital letter — this is most often perceived as a disregard for the interlocutor.
In online communication, as in ordinary, excessive emotionality is inappropriate. Avoid "caps", a lot of exclamation marks and repetitions of words used by many for persuasiveness. For a full-fledged healthy dialogue, it is enough to write correctly, do not forget about punctuation marks and not be rude.
Current emojis and emoticons in moderation can be used in any private correspondence. But at the same time, you need to choose only those that are exactly right for this case in order to avoid insults and misunderstandings. Just do not try to express emotions in this way in communication with the authorities — they are unlikely to appreciate it.
It is necessary to respond promptly to the received messages. If we are talking about emails, it is better to respond to urgent ones immediately, and to ordinary ones — within two days. If for some reason you do not have enough time to give an exhaustive answer, be sure to warn about it and, if possible, explain the reason for the delay.
Sometimes even the most polite people in real life forget to express gratitude online. If you received a postcard, a file, or an answer to your question, be sure to thank you for it, because the person took care of you and spent his time on it. Expressing gratitude for any service rendered to you is the most important rule of network etiquette.
In online communication, silence, ignoring and disappearing are considered bad form. Therefore, when entering into a conversation, you need to take responsibility and bring it to its logical conclusion. Either be responsible, or do not start a conversation — compliance with this rule will help to remain an adequate and well-mannered person in the eyes of the interlocutors.
You need to treat all people with whom you keep in contact online with respect. Subscribers, colleagues and friends, having received even a short advertising letter from you, will most likely perceive it as spam. Such mailing can be done only after receiving the addressee's permission.
As we can see, network etiquette is not too much different from the usual one and it is not difficult to follow its rules. At the same time, we get comfortable communication, security and trust, which are unlikely to be superfluous in our time. Yes, do not forget that there are a number of personal questions that people should not ask either in real life or in correspondence.