Internet Etiquette

Over the last few days I have been thinking about the nature of etiquette on the Internet. There have been studies conducted that suggest that the Internet is making children more demanding by fostering a culture of instant gratification. IMs, Facebook and Twitter all contributed to this body of research.

There is no doubt that the Internet does enable people to be less appreciative of people's feelings. Unlike social discourse "in the real world" or over the phone, the anonymity provided by the Internet, coupled with the relative safety of being behind a computer screen, allows a lot of people to say things that they wouldn't say to your face. In some respects, speaking to someone over an Internet connection dehumanises them and this can lead to a lot of drama, as has been evident on many channels, particularly IRC.

Coupled with this is my own feelings towards etiquette. I consider myself a polite kind of fellow yet the rules of etiquette online are often completely different to those offline. On IMs, for example, a lot of people think it is okay not to respond to something I have written to them for up to half an hour. This would be considered downright rude if this occurred in a pub. Equally, I feel the need to reply to every poster on LJ and Twitter yet I notice that most others rarely do. When it comes to Twitter, sometimes I fear that the fact I reply to everyone pisses other people off because it floods their own Twitspace with messages.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am probably wrong in trying to transplant normal social etiquette into the online world. Does anyone have any feelings on this?

Internet Etiquette

Over the last few days I have been thinking about the nature of etiquette on the Internet. There have been studies conducted that suggest that the Internet is making children more demanding by fostering a culture of instant gratification. IMs, Facebook and Twitter all contributed to this body of research.

There is no doubt that the Internet does enable people to be less appreciative of people's feelings. Unlike social discourse "in the real world" or over the phone, the anonymity provided by the Internet, coupled with the relative safety of being behind a computer screen, allows a lot of people to say things that they wouldn't say to your face. In some respects, speaking to someone over an Internet connection dehumanises them and this can lead to a lot of drama, as has been evident on many channels, particularly IRC.

Coupled with this is my own feelings towards etiquette. I consider myself a polite kind of fellow yet the rules of etiquette online are often completely different to those offline. On IMs, for example, a lot of people think it is okay not to respond to something I have written to them for up to half an hour. This would be considered downright rude if this occurred in a pub. Equally, I feel the need to reply to every poster on LJ and Twitter yet I notice that most others rarely do. When it comes to Twitter, sometimes I fear that the fact I reply to everyone pisses other people off because it floods their own Twitspace with messages.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am probably wrong in trying to transplant normal social etiquette into the online world. Does anyone have any feelings on this?