Virginia Shea Crush Patrol: 10 Rules of Netiquette
We <3 Virginia Shea. Back in 1994 - yes, that 1994, when the internet was made of text, she picked up and wrote the best guide we can find to Netiquette. Called, well, Netiquette, this very nice book lays out some basic rules for online engagement at a moment in time where the internet was just starting to open to the public in a big way.
Parts of this feel old - this book is over 20 years old now! - with regards to suggestions about signature files, Usenet etiquette, and conserving bandwidth from a time when most people were on the internet at 9600bps - a speed at which it would take you 18 minutes to load this this:
But a lot of the book holds up. Notably, she lays out 10 Core Rules of Netiquette:
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.
On Tuesdays over the next 10 weeks, we are going to be doing some talking about the rules, what she writes, and The Internet Of The Now. Of course, it should go without saying - this is going to apply for the slices of the internet we see. There are so many internets - so many different communities, languages, spaces, etc - it is hard to generalize. But we’ll see what we can do.
It is hard to track down what she is doing via The Internetz, but Virginia, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, we love you.