Give some people a computer and an Internet connection and they think it's a license for rudeness. What is it about
Internet that causes some folks to take all they learned about basic etiquette and throw it right out window?Think about it: Just because your reader can't see you doesn't give you right to be rude, but there are millions of Net users who feel that it does. I've been called names I'd rather not repeat in polite company and have been replied to in ALL CAPS. I'm not deaf.... THERE'S REALLY NO NEED TO YELL.
I attribute this newfound sense of rudeness to feeling of invisibility one gets while sitting behind keyboard. I mean, would you really come up to me face to face and call me a "Jackass" when you can't read simple directions on how to unsubscribe yourself from my ezine? I think not.
In this new digital age it appears we've taken everyday common courtesy and thrown it right out window. Whatever happened to "please" and "thank you?" My mother, who taught me as a child to call all adults 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.' would have cardiac arrest over emails I receive on a daily basis.
Remember "Golden Rule?" "Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you." Translation: before you call someone names, swear at them, report them to Spam Cop or do any other annoying gesture, stop and think. Maybe you did subscribe to that ezine and just don't remember. Try giving someone benefit of doubt before firing off an ugly email message that a real live breathing human being with feelings is going to read. Computers may not have feelings, but people do and there's a person behind every email address and/ or website.
Here are 'Top 10 Do's and Don'ts' for online communication:
1) Don't reply to someone in all caps; it's equivalent to screaming at them.
2) If you receive a newsletter and can't figure out how to unsubscribe, before threatening to sue or reporting publisher for Spam, politely ask publisher to be removed. Any ezine publisher worth his salt will be happy to oblige. We really don't want to hold you captive.
