Newb Education - The Dummies Guide to Forum Behavior

[AmazonBitch]

Fresh from my Martial Arts board. We should ask Chris to sticky this somewhere - announcements maybe?

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The Dummies Guide to Forum Behavior

Tired of being misunderstood when you post?
Wonder why you seem to type something and get a ton of grief?
The problem my friends, may be a local one, located between your keyboard and chair.
The good news is, the solution is at your fingertips!

Here are 7 simple rules to fitting in and being accepted on most online forums.

7 Easy Ways to Online Respect or, The Dummies Guide to Forum Behavior.

1- Lurk at first. Lurking is the act of reading, but not replying. Do this for a week or 3 to get the feel for the "seriousness" level of that particular discussion area.

2- Be polite. While you don't have to "sir" people to death, being polite and respectful, especially in your initial posts will allow you to ease yourself gracefully into the community.

3- Don't be demanding, or hit the board screaming. You are the "New Kid". If you come in guns blazing, demanding to be treated like an expert, bossing folks around, or just being a general opinionated ass, it is correct to expect people will react, and react negatively towards you. It doesn't matter how big, important or more likely self-important you are in the "real" world. On a message board, you are just another guy, and one that most folks have no clue about. Being a bossy jerk from the start will get you ignored, flames, suspended and even banned.

4- Spell Check & Grammar Check. - 95% of communications errors online are due to misspellings, typos, and poor grammar. If you have a modern word processor like MS Word, it includes both features. If you are trying to get a serious point across, I highly suggest using it to proof your post before you hit that "submit" button.

5- Proof Read - Reading your whole message through before submitting will allow you to correct flaws in logic, grammar, and concept, BEFORE someone else takes you to task publicly. Remember, this is a written medium. We can't see you smiling, or frowning, and much of the meaning is lost, unless you make it clear.

6- Follow Netiquette - Netiquette is simply rules of behavior for the online world. It is the little things like not typing in all capitals, using readable fonts, etc.
A detailed look is beyond my intent here, but you can educate yourself on proper online behavior here: http://www.onlinenetiquette.com/netiquette_101.html

7- Don't post simply to disrupt, detract, or destroy established discussions. This is often referred to as "Trolling", and is a sure way to find yourself rapidly shown to the door on most systems.

7 simple rules. 7 ways to win. 7 Holy Paths to Salvation in the online world.

[OzMan]

7 Simple Rules to Avoid Flaming.

Great job, AB.

[the boy wonder uk]

Great job , but will any Newbs read it?

Like Fuck they will.

It should be a mandatory read before access to the rest of the site.

[brantheman]

I liked it! Though i'm probably going to go over it five or six more times before I ever post again, seeing that i'm still a n00b and all. But of all the n00bs in the land, I am by far the sexiest.

I <3 this post, Amazon!

PS: Boywonder, your new avatar made me laugh.

[videoslave23]

Thanks for the lesson. I guess it was a bad idea to try to start an insurrection with my first post? (A Final Low Blow)

Anyway, it was very informative. I'll try not to be THAT GUY.

[moonprism]

I'll do my best to follow all these, even if at some point I do shed my n00b status.

[CreepyNormal]

They should do what they do at my other forum.

No one is allowed to create any new threads until they've been a member for 3 weeks.

[brantheman]

Originally Posted by CreepyNormal

They should do what they do at my other forum.

No one is allowed to create any new threads until they've been a member for 3 weeks.

That would make things a lot less fun around here

[rk237]

That list is incomplete unless Cowboy gets a listing ranked at least at #3 or higher.

[yousickf'ingbastard]

i think a nice good flaming for every new guy is required to break 'em in. i think bran will be up to the job of flaming?