The Internet has become a global community, and in the process, countless forums are available on all topics where people can express their opinions. Some forums are tightly moderated, meaning someone checks each post for appropriateness before it is uploaded to the forum. Some forums have minimal or no moderation, just Terms of Service (TOS) that members must follow. Most forums have some kind of reporting feature for obscene or harassing posts. Still, even with a minimally moderated forum, is there a pattern of behavior? Is there really such a thing as forum etiquette? The answer is an absolute yes.
Most forums offer a reporting feature for obscene or harassing posts.
Forum etiquette means maintaining a standard of posting behavior that is acceptable and appropriate. Forum etiquette can be flexible depending on the topic of the forum, but there are certain standards that most people expect others to abide by. Some lines should be drawn for the security of all forum posts.
Forum etiquette refers to a pattern of posting behavior that is considered appropriate and acceptable.
One of the strictest rules of forum etiquette is not to post personal information about another user. Even if that poster has almost drawn a map of your home, posting a real name or address is considered grounds for permanent ISP bans on most forums. This may compromise someone’s safety. This is probably the most serious violation of forum etiquette and is taken very seriously by most moderators.
Posting in CAPITAL LETTERS is considered a violation of forum etiquette.
You may not agree with someone’s opinion, but calling that person an idiot or profane is a violation of forum etiquette. Some forums are more liberal about this than others, but keeping it civil is never the wrong thing to do. Posting the same thing over and over again is called posting and is also a prohibited offense. It’s extremely annoying and consumes bandwidth, which someone is paying for. It’s totally unnecessary and makes the poster look immature and childish.
Someone with an inappropriate forum tag may post articles with the intention of inciting others.
Trolls always brazenly violate forum etiquette and like to disturb the peace in any forum where they post. Trolls tend to roll around, swear, gossip about other posts, post things that are deliberately provocative, and generally violate the forum rules on posting. Most moderators are quick to ban them as quickly as possible, but sometimes they can do a lot of damage before that happens.
Another violation of forum etiquette is posting in ALL CAPS. This is considered yelling and is very rude as well as being hard on the eyes. Something can be capitalized for emphasis (eg I DIDN’T WANT TO GO!), but no post should be completely capitalized.
Insulting or deliberate insults or personal tirades are also against forum etiquette. Flaming is often used by people who are losing arguments in a forum. Their response is to personally insult the user who disagrees with them, usually in a long, nasty post.
This type of behavior is why so many forums have a list of posting rules and consequences for violating them. Some might say that this behavior is more prominent among immature adolescents, but that is not the case. Many of the worst offenders are adults who should know better. The veil of anonymity seems to bring out the worst in these people, and any intimidating tendencies they have tend to be magnified in the semi-protection of an anonymous forum.
Most of the rest of forum etiquette involves the use of the golden rule: treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. Behaving like a reasonable adult, even in the face of criticism, is always the best course of action. If a poster gets harassing, obscene, or personal, don’t retaliate. Instead, cut and paste the offending posts into an email and quickly report it to the moderator or forum administrator.
Forums can be used to spread gossip.
