Netiquette

[Scheherazade]

The Cambridge Online Dictionary defines 'netiquette' as:
netiquette noun [U] SPECIALIZED
the set of rules about behaviour that is acceptable when writing an email or talking to people in a chat room
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=92416&dict=CALD

Do you think these 'set of rules' are necessary?
What are these 'acceptable' set of rules in your opinion?
What do you consider 'unacceptable'?
Are there any such rules you follow personally?
Do you think they are similar to those of 'real life' social rules?

[Xamonas Chegwe]

Why did they feel the need to shout the word specialized, do you think?

(Which should be spelt specialised btw - How can such an American book dare to call itself an English dictionary?) :D

[Scheherazade]

Why did they feel the need to shout the word specialized, do you think?

(Which should be spelt specialised btw - How can such an American book dare to call itself an English dictionary?) :D:D

Yeah, using capital letters (or big fonts) on the net is considered shouting and, therefore, somewhat rude.

It is also interesting that many people use them to draw attention to certain words or sentences but because of their boxed looks, capital letters are harder to read than small ones (especially so for dyslexic people).

As for 'specialized'... tobe honest I hadn't noticed it till you brought it up (goes to prove how we don't pay attention to capital letters? ;))! Very interesting on Cambridge website! Maybe we should email them! :D

[higley]

nEtiQuEtTe. SOUNDS FANCY.

I scorn it! But not really. Actually, if you think about it there's lots of different forums in which there is a certain preferred, polite way to behave. Take phones, for instance: it is customary and proper to say some sort of greeting when picking it up, something like "Hello" or "This is the house of...". And you don't suddenly hang up without saying some goodbye, because that's considered rude. Plus: it's bad etiquette to break up over the phone too :P The computer's just another medium, with its own set of dos and don'ts.

The difference is that it's a lot easier to get away with bad manners on the internet, and a lot more fun too :D However, I don't pretend to know much; I don't specialiZe in the subject ;D

[Dirt McKert]

it's actually spelled with a Z
'specialized'

to specialise is not a word
to specialize is a word

therefore, specialized is in fact the correct word

sorry...but it's true. if you don't believe me
go to dictionary.com
or
go into your MSWord (or whatever you have)
type specialised and do a grammar/word check



as to Netiquette:
it varies with each website.

[Xamonas Chegwe]

it's actually spelled with a Z
'specialized'

to specialise is not a word
to specialize is a word

therefore, specialized is in fact the correct word

sorry...but it's true. if you don't believe me
go to dictionary.com
or
go into your MSWord (or whatever you have)
type specialised and do a grammar/word check



as to Netiquette:
it varies with each website.

Try an English dictionary, NOT an American one - we invented the bloody language - make up your own if you don't like it! ;) :lol:

[Xamonas Chegwe]

PS - set your MS word prefs to UK English and see what happens.

[Dirt McKert]

both were accepted

[Dirt McKert]

besides
i don't care if you invented the damn language
i use it
and it sounds prettier coming out of my mouth anyhow :D
no dang british twang ;)

(j/k)

[Nightshade]

errright ettiquette! :rolleyes:

It is also interesting that many people use them to draw attention to certain words or sentences but because of their boxed looks, capital letters are harder to read than small ones (especially so for dyslexic people).
actually not true... It just needs a bit of looking to see it what is bad is mixed words like nEtiQuEtTe that is really hard to read because the shape is uneven and the pattern is broken.

[RobinHood3000]

Correction -- Southern Americans have a twang. The British have a more rounded accent.

[AimusSage]

As if all british speak alike, there are many local accents that differ greatly, but what do I know, I'm just a dutch guy who can't even speak his own language the way it's meant to be spoken.

[Dirt McKert]

Correction -- Southern Americans have a twang. The British have a more rounded accent.
i know...i just felt like rhyming.
i got my point across at least :D

[Xamonas Chegwe]

marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing and hearing twangs that just aren't there ;)

Personally, I have more of a faint burr, with overtones of rasp and sibilant emphasis. :D

[Dirt McKert]

ahaha :lol:

(btw: i fullheartedly disagree with my sig. it's more of a personal joke. but it's a real quote too!)

[kathycf]

Do you think these 'set of rules' are necessary?
What are these 'acceptable' set of rules in your opinion?
What do you consider 'unacceptable'?
Are there any such rules you follow personally?
Do you think they are similar to those of 'real life' social rules?

I tend to think folks should be guided by their common sense in these matters. If something is rude when you say it to someone "in real life" (silly term, I know) chances are it will be rude if you say it online. I think the basic anonymity of the internet leads people to be rude, because they don't really have to deal with the consequences of their behavior. eg. "If I am rude and banned from a forum, then gosh, I will go and register someplace else and be a jerk there then." Etiquette and manners are in place to make social discourse run smoothly. Rudeness, in my opinion, is generally the hallmark of the immature and/or limited mind. There are also some things that people do on line that aren't good in my opinion, for example hotlinking, but in that instance, I think many folks aren't aware that what they are doing is wrong.

[Scheherazade]

actually not true... It just needs a bit of looking to see it what is bad is mixed words like nEtiQuEtTe that is really hard to read because the shape is uneven and the pattern is broken.That is very intersting, Night, as you are the first dyslexic I know that prefers capitals. We follow the guidelines of The British Dyslexia Association at the college and quoting from their website:
Fonts should be rounded, allow for space between letters, reflect ordinary cursive writing and be 'easy on the eye'. Look for a font that spaces letters rather than running them closely together. Bear in mind that fonts that have unusual shaped letters can create difficulties.

Select sans serif fonts such as Arial or Comic Sans. Other suggestions include Verdana, Helvetica, Tahoma, Trebuchet and Sassoon.
*Use a minimum of size 12pt or 14pt.
*Where possible use lower case letters rather than capitals. Using capital letters for emphasis can make text harder to read.
*Don't write sentences entirely in capitals; this infers that the reader is being shouted at. http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/extra352.html
If something is rude when you say it to someone "in real life" (silly term, I know) chances are it will be rude if you say it online. That is a nice way of putting it, Kathy; a good guideline :)

[Bandini]

It is a good guidline - but then we all have different views of what constitutes 'rudeness'. Also, I consider this forum (as an intellectual forum) to be akin to a tutorial at a University - as long as you don't make personal attacks (and 'attacking' a view does not constitute this) swear or dominate (hard to do this on a thread - so that's OK!) then it should be fairly open - no?

One thing that I have noticed is that there seems to be a different set of rules for those with faith? A shame because, in the unlikely event that I discover God, it will be down to somebody having convinced me with robust, well considered reasoning. Not by saying 'shut up - you're nasty because you chellenge my view', sticking their fingers in their ears and going 'na na na na na na na'.

Right, I'll shut up about it for a bit now - bee in me bonnet and all that!

[kathycf]

I think rudeness, is to a degree a subjective quality. What may seem rude to me may not to someone else, and vice versa. Within the context of an online forum (in my opinion) being rude is a personal attack, mocking someone or implying that someone is stupid. One can disagree with another's viewpoint and express it in a respectful way,OR something along the lines of "Oh, only an idiot would have that opinion".

As far as matters of faith go, I think the same applies. People should be open-minded enough to understand that not everyone is a believer, and that folks have the right to express that. Personally, I don't have a problem with that at all.

[RobinHood3000]

I agree, although I personally would add that excessive sarcasm is a form of condescension.

[Pendragon]

Netiquette, how delicate!
A fragile butterfly it is—
Used correctly, even deftly,
Covers a multitude of sins!
Be soft to answer, careful to consider,
What message you really want to be sent.
For Bandini pleas, and I fully agree,
No good witness comes from rude content.
The world is wide, two of a kind,
Are often a split-decision.
Discussion can, if done with proper hand,
Reach a true consensus.
I try to be just what I preach,
You will find it in my posts, I hope.
Netiquette—yes, we have need of it—
Applied to all of us—poor folks…

With a God bless,

Pendragon
;)

[Grumbleguts]

I have learnt two new words today: Nettiquette and Ungoogleable. And there are still people that say the Internet is not educational.

[Nightshade]

That is very intersting, Night, as you are the first dyslexic I know that prefers capitals. We follow the guidelines of The British Dyslexia Association at the college and quoting from their website:http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/extra352.html That is a nice way of putting it, Kathy; a good guideline :)

Well I dont prefer capitals they arent as good as small letters becasue the letes look fairly similar so it takes a little longer to think out what IM reading but once Im into reading capials I can usually ge along fine with the post.
But as for sans serif fonts my fabvopuirte font is a serif one Courier New (or is it New couriour?) but thas becasue of the spaces I guess.
But my dyslexia is not at all strong and doesnt really affect my reading except for noncommon words and names. IT more on the writing side that I have the troubles and the directions and hand-eye cordination and reading aloud.

[SleepyWitch]

it's actually spelled with a Z
'specialized'

to specialise is not a word
to specialize is a word

therefore, specialized is in fact the correct word

sorry...but it's true. if you don't believe me
go to dictionary.com
or
go into your MSWord (or whatever you have)
type specialised and do a grammar/word check



as to Netiquette:
it varies with each website.

erhem, excuse, but it's not 'true'.
I've just searched the BNC (British National Corpus) for "specialize" (156 hits) vs "specialise" (298 hits), so this confirms CX's point that -s is British. however, this difference in spelling is changing. LDOCE online ( http://pewebdic2.cw.idm.fr/ ) has "specialize also specialise British English".. so in British English, there is both actually. (i didn't look for inflected forms, though) The BNC is a collection of authentic language as it is used today by educated native speakers of British English (there are also corpora for American English). it comprises millions of words and samples from all fields of life.... qualitiy dictionaries like Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (BNC), Cobuild (CollinsCOBUILD) and LDOCE draw on such corpora to document how words are actually used today (by educated speakers, mind you, not just any old speaker). that is, a word counts as "correct" if a significant number of educated speakers use it that way. services like dictionary.com don't always employ cutting-edge technology like corpora. they do use word.net,.. but on the other hand they use sources like a free online dictionary (anyone can make entries, so anyone can post their subjective judgments, which often a) differ from the way the word is actually used by ppl and b) often even differ from the way that same person uses the word themselves in really life!) and Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary..... now, I don't think a 1897 Bible Dictionary is
ideally suited to tell us what words are used like today....

hehe, XC, sibilant overtones? :) do you hiss a lot?

///// end of waffle... sory to bore you, but some things just need to be said :)
as for netiquette: i think rules on the net wil be largely the same as in real life... but then: in real life, ppl from different countries have different rules of etiquette, so as long as your in your home country, chances are everybody agrees more or less on how to behave
whereas on the net, ppl from all over discuss things, so maybe there's a need to take cultural differences into account and come up with a set of rules that accomodates these diffs?
maybe we could collect some do's and don'ts, discuss them and reach a compromise... i.e. we'd come up with our own LitNetiquette? maybe that makes it easier than to discuss this in abstract terms?