Chatroom Netiquette 101

Chatroom Netiquette 101

A lot of conventions and rules that apply to email correspondence and newsgroups apply to chat rooms. In this setting, you are simply typing out your thoughts and sending them to a lot of people, not as an email, but as a chat message and in real time. And unlike email communications, people are quicker to respond inside chat rooms because again, everything takes place in real time.

Fact is that there are a lot of chat rooms that are available on the internet. With this fact, obviously it should follow that standards of behaviour should vary depending on the chat room that you frequent and its users. There may be rules that are applicable only on "some" chatrooms but are totally taboo on others. Here are some universal rules that you might want to consider when you chat online:

1. Avoid using ALL CAPS
All caps, no matter in what form of correspondence, suggests yelling. This can be particularly offending especially if you are inside the chat room where the setting is like having conversations with your "real world" friends. Typing your font in bold is also considered to be rude.

2. Before you start posting your thoughts on the chat room, be mindful of the tone of the conversation
This is especially true if you are fond of posting using offensive language, lewd remarks or even using offensive nicknames, unless, of course, you are in a chat room where these are considered to be conventions rather than violations. Whenever possible, avoid using personal attacks.

3. Flooding is not allowed
Flooding is sending the same messages over and over again for a specific span or time, or simply typing non-sense messages just to fill the screen to hinder any communication inside the chat room. This particular behavior is only acceptable for very loud children aged 3 to 5 years whose constant yelling and whines can fill an entire room. If you do flooding, then you'll be considered as such.

4. Flirting with everyone inside the chatting room is a taboo
This is something that should be observed strictly, especially men. If you want to hit on someone, save it for your one-on-one chats and don't do it on the room, please.

5. Be nice to green apples
Everyone went through the same phase. If you ever stumble on someone who obviously does not know much about chat rooms, show them enough patience as you assist them in getting the hang of things. Everyone was a newbie first before they became experts

6. Scan files before sharing them
There are chatting rooms that offer file sharing features to its users. If you want to send a file to your friend, scan it first so that you will be sure that you are only sharing clean and safe files. Spreading viruses like hackers and identity theft criminals is very taboo.

7. Do not share your friend's personal information in the chat room
Spammers, scammers, identity theft criminals and other online predators also frequent chatting rooms disguised as innocent users but they are out there waiting for their next victim. Do not compromise your friend's privacy and yours by sharing any personal information about yourselves.

About the Author
Tina L. Douglas is a well established author on the topic of identity theft.

For more advice and information on identity protection program, visit: IdentityProtectionReports.com.