notes-gettingAlongOnTheInternet

Bayle's easy guide to surviving on the net:

1) Tone down anything confrontational that you have to say. Online, for some reason, people tend to be more confrontational than they are in "real life", so try to compensate for this tendency. Also, it's hard to predict what will insult others on the net, because you don't know them as well and the context is weird and you can't see them.

1a) Katherine suggests that if you have trouble telling how confrontational it sounds, send it to yourself, dont look at it for awhile, and then see how offended you are when you get it.

2) Don't say anything on the net that you wouldn't say to the person, in public, face-to-face. If someone would get insulted by something said to them face-to-face, they might get insulted by the same thing if you write it.

3) If someone bothers or insults you on the net and you get angry, relax. Remember, it's only some schmoe on the internet, they can't ruin your life. Don't waste a lot of time on the argument.

4) Different forums on the net have different rules; for example, in some there is "freedom of speech", in some there is not. Often the rules are unwritten. The rules usually won't be too surprising, but don't presume to know the rules in a particular place when you don't.

5) Don't use Nazis as an analogy for any complaint that you have about another person or situation. You won't be taken seriously, and may be accused of flaming (even if the analogy was actually appropriate).

These rules boil down to: Don't be a psycho. For some reason, it's harder to avoid being a psycho on the net than it is in "real life".

Addendum: 6) The internet is designed to be public. Don't write something on the internet if you don't want everyone to see it, even your family, friends, and business associates. People often assume that if they write on one part of the internet for one particular audience, then it will be safely hidden. It isn't.