Netiquette, do you have it, or not ?

By DarkArmada

   “Netiquette, a portmanteau of “network etiquette“, is the convention on electronic forums (Usenet, mailing lists, live chat, and Internet forums) to facilitate efficient interaction” – Wikipedia

It seems simple enough. Follow a rough set of guidelines so that the text you are posting can be read and understood clearly by others. I felt fairly confident that I could easily “port” mannerisms that I use in the real world to that of the electronic one. For the majority of people out there that’s pretty much spot on. With the addition of a simple “:)” after your post, you are showing that what you have just said has been in a good nature and requests you to “please continue interacting with me based on this insight that I have just put forth to you”.

While this seems logical and a great way to communicate with others online, I find that there are some who refuse to contribute in the same way. Whether it’s because of their own inadequacies or simply are too lazy to do so – these “net-holes” as I will so eloquently call them are found everywhere.

They are born out of MySpace pages daily and continue to overrun and infect forums the world over. Some upstanding e-citizens try to direct these net-holes to the nearest school or university. Others will abuse and try to outwit them. I hope that my writings here will assist net-holes everywhere in getting the help they need to be a valued addition to society.

You need to know how to identify a classic net-hole. Just because someone disagrees in your taste of music, enjoys playing The Sims or is just plain annoying, doesn’t make them a net-hole. Below are the key indicators to watch out for when identifying a net-hole.

• Excessive Capitalization (Exclamation’s optional)

SOMETIMES THEY MAY JUST FORGET THEIR CAPS LOCK KEY IS PRESSED AND BE TOO LAZY TO RETYPE. OR MAYBE THEY REALLY DOSHOUT AT EVERYONE ALL THE TIME. TYPING IN CAPS IS FRUSTRATING FOR MOST AND I’VE KILLED PEOPLE FOR LESS.

This is a good sign that you’re onto one and appropriate action should be taken. Even the most well written contributions can be completely disregarded simply by making this mistake. This rule can also be applied for a bold or italics abuser – we know who you are…

• Leetspeak or 13375|>34|< in the native tongue.

You’ve just finished an online gaming session on Halo 3 or you just came out on top in Gears of War, you’re pumped. You can’t believe it and didn’t know you had it in you. But something is missing, you need to tell someone about your awesome ability. You head straight to the forum and say…

“ZOMG!!!11!1 U guyz are noobz! j00 got so PWND!! ph43 da pawwah!!11! WTF newbz, so 1337!!!!! Pwnd that h4x0rzz!!! L@ym!!!11!!”

There is no need for this. Contrary to your belief, this does not make you cool, but only the target of some severe flaming from others who believe that they are more “elite” than you. Although we, as mature and well spoken gamers look down upon these poor souls, we need to be patient and understand that these net-holes need to be educated – not burnt alive…

More Netiquette to come soon so stay tunned:

Filed under: Console gaming, Xbox 360 3rd Party Games | Tagged: etiquette, forum etiquette, how to use the net, net etiquette, net rules, netiquette, use net