1. Don't forward chain e-mails. Ever.
My dad is the worst offender I know on this big number one netiquette rule. Because my earliest email experiences involved corresponding with him over email, an on-again-of-again conversation that has lasted since at least 1996, this has also been one of my most persistent annoyances. To be fair, my dad's affection with chain emails is well intentioned. I get the feeling that he has looked at every email or link he's ever forwarded. Likewise, I remember early on in the 'internet age' when getting jokes and funny little stories (see Darwin Awards) in your email was a real treat. Friends and colleagues took the time to discuss the most recent emails at parties and lunches. This probably doesn't happen anymore. In fact, I imagine that except for a dedicated few, most the emails sent by my dad beginning with "FW:" end up as they do in my email box, subject lines bold and unread into perpetuity.
2. Don't friend request your boss.
This has always seemed obvious to me, but I still see people try to do it all the time. That said, if your boss friends you, it's probably ok to accept (cynically mandatory, actually). Friending former bosses is passable behavior as well. On the other end of the spectrum, however, is friending someone who you've just been assigned under, but have never actually met. This is the definition of cyber awkward. Expect rejection.
3. Don't start Facebook wall posts with "Dear," "To whom it may concern:," etc. or end a post with "Love," "Sincerely," "Best wishes," etc. (Unless you're being ironic.)
Facebook posts aren't letters. They aren't even email. They are wall posts, descendants of graffiti in urban spaces. Your identity is obvious as soon as it shows up on the wall, so there's no need to identify yourself. Any niceties on the front or back of your post make it seem like you are completely lost or are suffering from momentary amnesia. The bright, electric screen and pictures of your cousin's birthday party should make it obvious you're not crafting a epistemological masterpiece, Mr. Hemingway.
4. Don't harass gamer girls.
I've been playing a lot of Halo: Reach lately. Every so often, a female gamer will be part of one the games. The second a female voice is heard by the rest of the (male) players, the discourse, gaming, and general vibe of the experience goes downhill immediately.
Exemplar comments:
-'You sound hot. Where do you live?'
-'Do you have a boyfriend?'
-'I have a girlfriend, but I'd do you.'
-'How about you give me your phone number? I'll sext you.'
-'I just killed you. That kinda turns me on. Does it turn you on?'
And so on.
This really ruins the experience of all the gamers, not just the females. I feel like there are enough experiential boundaries to getting into a competitive, relatively complex game like Halo: Reach to start throwing up crude social barriers to the gaming experience as well. And while not every gamer will look like the girls in this pertinent video, the gaming experience should be as open and welcoming to everyone as possible. If nothing else, having a larger number of players simply enriches the game play of all.
5. People don't care about your Farmville cows. (And neither should you.)
I know Zenga is making a zillion dollars a week by incentivizing time wasting to people around the world, but the last thing I want on my Facebook newsfeed is to hear about your new baby calf having diarrhea, what your mafioso crew did to some speakeasy, or that your pirates just assassinated a trove of pink unicorns.Yes, I know I can block stuff like this, but should I really have to?
6. You are not your dog, Martin Luther King Jr., or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
Your Facebook profile picture should reflect this.
7. People do not want to be fans of your employer.
Congratulations! I'm glad you got that great new job at Target, I really am. I was tired of paying your half of the rent, anyway. But this does not mean I want to become a fan of Target, and I think you owe it to me not to suggest such a thing. Please. (By the way, you still do owe me $1200 and I'm not a fan of that, either.)
8. If you're going to post a link to an article, add a personal comment about it.
It's great that you think that Tom Friedman/Michelle Malkin/Any Huffington Post Contributor's latest diatribe is so insightful. But why? As Yoda once said: Posting an article does not an opinion make.
9. Don't hate (on Social Media).
I've been in more than one conversation with people who state that they 'hate, just absolutely hate' Twitter/Facebook/bloggers. And yet, when the question is asked, 'have you ever actually been on Twitter/Facebook/a blog?' The answer is almost always no.
People are entitled to opinions. But uninformed opinions... Not so much.
10. Yes, Professor, I am looking at Facebook during class.
And so is everyone else.
Although the argument is sometimes made that computers in the classroom detract from the classroom experience, in computer science classes, new media classes, and the like computer-centric classrooms are a necessary evil. In more and more college classes these days students are bringing their laptops (and at least their cell phones) into class. And all of these students have Facebook or Twitter or GMail open while they are in class. It's a fact of contemporary life. For instructors, this simply means that your margin of attention grabbing error is smaller than ever. The best perspective, in my opinion, is to see classroom Facebook use as a symptom of a problem, not the actual problem.
The actual problem is that you haven't sold me on the idea of what you're teaching is actually important and/or interesting. Although we all know cognitively that we're already paying tuition, you're going to give us grades at the end of the semester and that this material will be on the final exam, it all doesn't matter when the cute girl/guy from the party last night just added us as a friend and we now have access to all their pictures from last spring break. Yes, professors, this means that you are competing against co-eds in swimsuits on the beach.
Time to earn your tenure.
3 comments:
I would definitely agree with you on some of your netiquette points. I liked 1,2,4,& 6. Number 10 however I would disagree. Now I would say if you take 60 seconds to accept a friend request or check a wall post because some student has gone off on a rant that is not even relevant to the topic it is no big deal, but I have seen students that will spend the entire class period on Facebook and I think that is just plain disrespectful to the professor and it's a shame they are wasting their mommy and daddy's tuition money. I may be old school but I think it is pathetic if they can't sacrifice a few hours a week to value their education.
I definitely agree with #3. During Hurricane Earl, so many people on my feed were posting things like, "DEAR EARL. PLEASE DON'T DESTROY MY HOUSE."
Really obnoxious..
Great advice for the most part. Sadly, I'm often a victim of people who run afoul of your guidelines. I particularly like that you included the one about not hating on social media. People seem to assume that they don't see value in it, then there is none. I've spent hours debating that point.
I do have to side with Kristen on #10. In the end, it's a judgement call by the student as to whether they choose to place greater value on their Facebook time or on the class discussion. I don't think it's all on the professor to earn students' attention over the three-ring-circus of social media.
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