Albion Mininavigator

Netiquette Banner

Chapter 3
The Core Rules of Netiquette

So you got a modem and a network subscription for your birthday and you want to make some new online friends. Where do you start?

Rule 1: Remember the human

The golden rule your parents and your kindergarten teacher taught you was pretty simple: Do unto others as you'd have others do unto you. Imagine how you'd feel if you were in the other person's shoes. Stand up for yourself, but try not to hurt people's feelings.

In cyberspace, we state this in an even more basic manner:

Remember the human.

When you communicate electronically, all you see is a computer screen. You don't have the opportunity to use facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice to communicate your meaning; words -- lonely written words -- are all you've got. And that goes for your correspondent as well.

When you're holding a conversation online -- whether it's an email exchange or a response to a discussion group posting -- it's easy to misinterpret your correspondent's meaning. And it's frighteningly easy to forget that your correspondent is a person with feelings more or less like your own.


Next Page ... Previous Page
Contents ... Index ... Netiquette Home

Copyright © 1994-97 Albion.com
webmaster@albion.com
Overview of Albion Sites About Albion Ad Rate Card Web Development Services Go to Albion Home Page