In our daily life etiquettes play a major role in deciding the way we live, the way we carry our image and mannerisms, which determine our personality. Etiquettes are the forms of civilized manners or the laws of courtesy which are c conventionally followed so that decorum is ensured.
Defined Netiquette, Censorship, Privacy – Internet World
Every individual is supposed to follow certain etiquettes so as to ensure smooth interaction between individuals. World over etiquette is an indispensable thing if one needs to be recognized to be a civilized individual, may be certain etiquettes vary from place to place but basic etiquettes are common and are expected to be followed.
Let us come to the cyber space, here also etiquette plays a pivotal role for using the cyberspace to the optimum level and get maximum benefit out of on it. The etiquette which we will be discussing is the etiquette one has to follow while working in cyberspace i.e. internet, so that utility of it is not lost and is productive.
defined Netiquette In Internet World
Netiquette can be defined as “The etiquette one has to follow which using/working in cyber space/internet”. Netiquette can be also be defined as the culture and mannerisms of the cyberspace.
When we are using internet certain aspects have to be kept in mind so that we do not commit mistakes or trouble anyone intentionally/unintentionally.
Basic Aspects of Netiquette
There are certain basic aspects of netiquette one has to follow while using the internet. Some of them are as follows:
Human Aspect: Internet is also a mode of communication and we communicate using, internet we feel that we are communicating with computer, but we always forget that there is a human who is involved at the other end, so please yourself in his shoes, before you send an e-mail or any other form of communication. We should not write/use any such language which we will never use on face of the receiver. On one hand it may hurt the human on the other side and on other hand this e-mail can be stored, used against the person sending it as a proof and is valid. Therefore restrain from using any vulgar, obscene or hurting words in the e-mail. Do not send forwards until the other party agrees to it.
Behavioral Standards have to be followed: We need to follow the same standards of behavior, which we follow in our day to day life in the real world. The same standards stand in the cyber-space. Anything which is illegal on hand is on land is also illegal in cyberspace, so be careful and do not indulge in any illegal activities.
Respect Privacy: Respect the privacy of everyone in the cyberspace as we do in our day to day life. Do not try to invade privacy of others by any unfair means.
Know Importance of Time: Do not send bulky mails and mails with very big attachments as they take lot time to open/download due to bandwidth and traffic problems, which may create troubles to the person on the otherwise. It is our responsibility to make it sure that their time is not wasted. Do remember a golden rule here “small is beautiful”; therefore make almost all your messages short and sweet.
Know the Environment: When we got to a party or interact with a group, we usually catch up the going thing there and try to know what others are in, then we start interacting with them i.e. knowing the group or the environment and then mixing up with then is good for a healthy conversion, so, is the case in the cyberspace. Whenever you chart online make sure that you at least know what is being discussed over before you indulge in it as the blend has to be perfect for a healthy and fruitful conversation i.e. whenever you are in discussion forums do chat only on are on discussions.
Present Yourself in Good Manner: In the real world, you are judged by your appearance, dressing, style body postures as well as your conversational skills, but in cyberspace all this is not possible, the only thing to judge you is by the quality of your writing, therefore be choosy about what you write as only those people who enjoy writing usually are there on net conversions, take special care of spellings and grammar. Do not use abbreviations which are not standard and universally acceptable. Make sure that you are aware of what you are writing about and you are making sense and never swear on the net.
Knowledge sharing: Make it a point that you share the knowledge you possess as it is a resource which has to be shared. Sharing knowledge keeps it away from depleting. Whenever you visit or came across sites which are good resources, make it a point that you share then with your friends. This enhances the knowledge and its utility making the world a beautiful and knowledgeable place.
No Junk mails: Make it a point that do not send or forward any junk mails, advertisements or any other unsolicited matter to any of your contacts, this will cause great trouble to the receiver. Never play pranks with pranks with innocent people. Do not send letters or matter which will cause emotional shatters to the persons receiving it.
No Heated Messages: Never send heated (flames) messages or abusive messages. These messages cause agony and make an individual frustrated, which is unethical and unjustifiable act, therefore do avoid this. In case you happen to receive such message the best way is to ignore it and never get agitated over it.
Type Case: Make it a point to use mixed case while typing the message, avoid using upper case, as it causes irritation and looks as if you are angry and are shouting.
Give Sufficient Time: Even though E-mail reaches the addressee in no time, do give the time for reply as it takes time to be received and replied to considering the time differences across the world as well as the busy schedules of individuals receiving it.
Subject Header: Make it a point to include a subject header along with the e-mail and make it sure that the subject indicates the content of the message.
Mailing Lists and net News: When posting articles or anything to mailing lists and net News, remember that these are usually archived and are available for years to come, therefore be careful while you post something and be prepared to face it for years to come. The messages once sent cannot be retrieved.
Interactive Services/CHAT System: Whenever you are using interactive systems, make it sure that you are in line with what is the area in which the discussions/talk is going on, so that you are in tune with the concept being discussed. Therefore make it a point to get feel of the channel and acceptable terms. As this is also cross cultural, do respect the cultures of others.
Multiple Recipients: Do avoid sending the mail to multiple recipients, on rare occasions of it is unavoidable then as a courtesy, use the BBC option i.e., Blind Carbon Copy, so that the email addresses of others are invisible to the other recipients there by respecting privacy of others.
Never Send across Hoaxes Rumors etc. through e-mails.
The above netiquette rules are not exhaustive. A golden rule which speaks everything is “Do not indulge in anything on cyber space which you will not do o0n earth”.
By following some basic etiquette on the cyberspace, we can utilize the knowledge available on the internet in the most productive, efficient and smooth manner, without causing agony or harm to any individual, i.e. our fellow netizens.
Censorship Internet Today
When we take internet as one of the most powerful media for expression media expression, knowledge and communication, where anyone can upload or post his website with the content he/she will to, in general let us say that an individual is free to express themselves on internet. This was for making internet a free platform, but people started misusing it by loading content whichis offensive and has the potential for misleading many, like there are many pornographic sites, racial hatred, illegal trades etc. which are making the internet a bane rather than a boon.
These activities and content have to be kept under check, so that the internet can be used for the porpoise which it was intended to i.e. the content has to be censored, so that only that content which is universally acceptable at some standard norms is made available on the internet.
The bottle neck in this censorship is that as internet is an open system and no one in real sense owns it, it becomes very difficult to impose such norms, but there has to be some ways to check this. With this thought in mind, the interest associations which are concerned about this are interacting with governments across the world to enact laws for the censorship and setting guidelines for the content on the net.
Any objectionable content, which is purely for misleading and is offensive, should not be allowed to load on the net. A mechanism should be set (and is being set) which will netizens to forward their complaints regarding content and there should be a legal and regulatory frame-work which should take care of proper action on these issues.
Even though, many countries, world across have enacted laws for the cyberspace, but practical difficulty in implementing them is leaving many of the defaulters free. This should be rectified where is no defaulter is left free and be punished for the offense.
The other school of thought says that if censorship is involved in deciding what should go on the net, then it destroys the basic freedom of individuals to express and it snatches for them. As this creates chaos on the internet, and has an ill effect on the society, young children especially we can work on restricted access to the data, where people below age of majority are restricted to certain sites, which should be enforced strictly.
Any content which is harmful to the human race, spreads terrorism, is threat to security and integrity of nations should be banned and censored to the extent that it does not have content which is explosive. Thus, we can maintain the welfare of the society and human race at large.
Privacy: Trending Topic on Internet
Every individual has rights for some personal space. One has to respect the privacy of an individual and not try to invade it by any means. This holds well for the netizens too, we need to ensure that people’s privacy is respected. The web players should maintain the personal details of individuals very confidentially and should not divulge them without prior approval of the person involved, so that his personal details are not misused for any other purpose, which he is never intended to. This holds good for vital information like credit cards information, address, phone numbers and further details which are personal to an individual.
The basic principle underlying the Internet usage is that everyone using the net i.e. all netizens have to be socially and morally responsible and their acts should not be questionable.
The users should follow ethics, respect other cultures worldwide, respect other netizens as fellow human beings and follow etiquettes which make the users a sober net society. A society which as abundance of knowledge is an enlightened society where everyone knows their responsibility & duties and works towards the welfare of the mankind on the whole.
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