h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just remember that most of it is "pretend" and don't take it too seriously.





(NB: theres a big cold thing just the other side of your front door called the "World" and it's got some really cool stuff in it!
Go have a look once in a while!)

ahh - the room with the big blue ceiling?

He! He! I like that one! 'Blue ceiling'...marvelous...!

Yep - and green carpets...

Must be a totally different room here. The ceiling's not blue (somebody hung some disgusting grey wallpapers there), and the roof's definitely not waterproof.

I remember that there used to be a big yellow lamp years ago, but someone always turned it off at night when youe needed it most. What use is a lamp that burns only at daytime?

Back to the netiquette: I do not like the idea of pretending to be somebody completely different on the Web. I do, however, like the old song "I'm the great pretender", but it's just the song I like. It's to have some social firewall between the Net and your RL identity. That's what nicknames and free disposable Webmail services are for.

I have some personal Netiquette rules that work quite good for me:

1. Respect those who respect you. Ignore those who don't.

2. Tolerate those who show a minimum amount of tolerance towards others. Ignore those who don't.

3. Avoid misunderstandings. If you type something that would need some aditional 'nonverbal communication' IRL, be aware that the person on the other end of the line cannot see you, so add one of those emoticons to make clear whether you are smiling or snarling, laughing or crying.

4. Read before you think, think before write, read again before you post.

5. Don't presume to be the high priest of morals and netiquette. Ignore those who do.

You may have noticed that I usually don't want to get into arguments with those who don't follow my rules. I just prefer to ignore them. That keeps them out of my conversations bit by bit.

Every one of us (i.e. h2g2 users in this context) seems to have similar rules. I have noticed that the atmosphere in the h2g2 world has a very high amount of respect, friendship and tolerance. This is not very common in the UseNet groups outside h2g2. I spent some months there, and I must admit that I didn't like it in the end.

I do realize that sometimes you are in a situation where you have to communicate in a very clear and misunderstandable manner, even if the person on the other end of the line is appaled by that. As long as that's better than a continuing misunderstanding, it's ok. Flaming just for the sake of flaming is silly and a waste of time, bandwidth, energy, kharma, ...

Of course, this is not only a netiquette rule. It's also valid IRL. If you think you have been treated in an inappropriate way, tell that to the other person immediately, but tell it with words that open an honest way out of the situation.

just my 0.02$

jfsjbb

I think the reason some people flame and are disrespectful online is that they don't see the internet as a 'real' community. Because they can't see the people they're talking to they forget that it's a real person they're annoying or upsetting. They're just in it for a quick laugh - they wouldn't dare do it to Joe Bloggs in the high street, of course.

I think the more we ignore these insensitive idiots, the more likely it is that they will go away. Just like they eventually do in real life...

(It's just struck me that my use of the term 'in real life' suggests that I don't consider the online community to be 'real', which puts me in the same category as the insensitive idiots. Whoops. I will endeavor not to use the term again...)

but then again, it's way too cold and wet at the moment.

"Stay in, Log on, and veg out"

Could we say OTOSOTD (on the other side of the door) instead of IRL???

Nope - too long...

Jeremy, I have to agree with point 3 you made. I know several people on h2g2 who hardly ever use smileys (the same on ICQ and beyond too), and this makes most of their comments sound quite cynical or sarcastic, sometimes even spiteful.
I can't tell if they mean this or if they're just having a joke. I think it helps you to understand their personality as well as just the meaning of their sentence.