WHY NETIQUETTE?
The term netiquette is the abbreviation of “network etiquette.” It’s not new, dating back to 1983, but it certainly deserves the attention of both veteran and newbie Internet users. Rules for corresponding on the Internet have been published in a variety of forms for nearly 30 years (see http://www.networketiquette.net). Some rules are for general use, but others are directed at businesses, social networking, and even online courses.
TOP 10 RULES: After sifting through several buckets of lists, I extracted 10 rules that seem to be appropriate for most professionals, but especially those who hang in the hallowed halls of higher heducation reading my lame alliteration in blogs. My sifting was prompted by a few abuses I have observed over the past couple of months on e-mails, listservs, blogs, and social network comments. These professionals should be smacked with a whisk broom.
Unfortunately, I admittedly can count myself as one of these abusers. That means I’m both a sifter and an abuser, which require two different articles in one sentence. Smack! Smack! Although the offenders other than Moi will probably not read this blog, maybe you can tell them about the netiquette rules when you run into them or see them being booked on Law & Order reruns or Castle.
BE A "MENSCH": You probably know and practice all of the rules in my list. They’re based on common courtesies and appropriate professional behaviors in the workplace. The general message is: Be a “mensch” (a Yiddish word, meaning literally, “Nobel Prize winning personality”). Actually, it’s a person with integrity, honor, and a sense of what is right.
INCIVILITY & BULLYING: The problem is that there are professionals who are not as sensitive to these rules as you may be. Incivility and bullying are spreading in the academic workplace. Those behaviors also manifest themselves in communications on the Internet. Cyber-bullying is on the rise. If this list raises the consciousness level of just 1 bully, then this blog series was a waste of my alliteration—a total failure. I’m hoping for at least 2.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
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