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Week 7: know your suroundings

Internet etiquette or netiquette is code of polite behavior on the Internet. Altho there isn't an official rulebook for netiquette, back in 1995, Virginia Shea published a book with 10 commandments:

  1. Remember the human
  2. Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life
  3. Know where you are in cyberspace
  4. Respect other people's time and bandwidth
  5. Make yourself look good online
  6. Share expert knowledge
  7. Help keep flame wars under control
  8. Respect other people's privacy
  9. Don't abuse your power
  10. Be forgiving of other people's mistakes

Not all places online are the same. Depending on where you are in cyberspace, different netiquette rules may apply and it's your role as the user to adapt to the environment you're in. Following the rules in an online community is necessary to avoid being muted or even banned. When joining or posting in different Facebook groups, subreddits, or boards on 4chan, there are specific rules that we comply with when joining or posting.

For example, I am a part of some random Facebook groups that are essentially roleplaying groups. Some of my favorites include "A group where we all pretend to be ants in an ant colony", "A Group Where We Pretend its 2009-2012" and "this IS an airport, please announce your departure: aeroplane ear posting". The names of the groups are pretty self-explanatory, people post random stuff for fun according to the group name. When you join one of these groups you have to read and accept the rules, which amongst general rules like being kind towards others, respecting each others privacy, and no reposting include some more specific rules to the group:


some of the rules when joining the ant colony Facebook group

some of the rules when joining the aeroplane ear Facebook group


So any posts that aren't related to the purpose of the groups are typically removed and doing such stuff repeatedly usually leads to a ban and therefore knowing where you are in cyberspace is relevant. People tend to get quite creative and have in these groups and over a long period of time, some traditions emerge in the groups. Some random posts that I saw on my feed:


an example of a post in the ant group where it is a tradition to comment "LIFT" whenever seeing a post about food


an example of a post in the aeroplane group where the title of a picture is usually an air traffic report

A different kind of example I'd like to bring is the famous imageboard site 4chan. You don't have to sign in or join to be a part of the community, as posting and scrolling is completely anonymous. However, when using the site you do get a cautionary statement:


a pop-up disclaimer when entering any of 4chans boards

But, there is an exception to the global rules to which pretty much all boards follow - the infamous and lawless random board - /b/, where almost no rules apply. Some of the only rules that apply here are that you need to be 18 or older, you can't post anything that violates local or US laws, and no dox-ing and raiding amongst a few other rules. So basically everything outside of those rules is allowed, including racism, trolling, porn, grotesque imagery and other gruesome stuff. I'd bring examples but scrolling through the board I couldn't really find anything remotely appropriate so I'll spear you this one and let you imagine it yourself.
the rules that apply to /b/

People outside of the community who aren't familiar with the rules and customs of the board would most likely consider most of it putrid or extremely inappropriate, in the least. Yet all of these posts are welcome on the random board and it's the user's responsibility to know where you are dwelling and what you might be up for. 

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