Netiquette, Is It Important?

Do you know what is netiquette?

Well, netiquette is a blending of the word net (from internet) + etiquette. According to Meriam-Webster dictionary, netiquette is rules about the proper and polite way to communicate with other people when you are using the Internet. There are some examples of netiquette, they are:

Avoid "flaming" (online "screaming") or sentences typed in all caps (capital letters). This is the equivalent of someone SCREAMING IN YOUR EAR! (sorry)

Do not post racist remarks regarding people’s race, gender or religion.

Don’t spam (repeatedly post the same ads for products or services).

Stay on topic, especially when you are a newbie. Don’t post about automotive in a wedding & family forum or about wedding & family in a travelers forum.

Click this link for more examples.

So, is that really important?

In my humble opinion, netiquette is very important, why? It is because internet is a media where everyone can freely give their opinions, however, behind this freedom there should be a regulation or netiquette so that the freedom will not hurt others.

If Internet users do not understand or even care about netiquette, there will be lots of problems which can even drag into legal trouble. One of the examples is the case that has just happened in the beginning of 2014, a student made a tweet about critics to his campus that led him to the suspension (the news). Furthermore, as we know that twitter and other social media is a public media that can be seen by many people, when we misuse it, of course it will give us and other people the negative impacts (case). There are many more cases related to the Internet, those are the evidences that we urgently need netiquette.

The need for education about netiquette is supposed to be taught and understood as early as possible. The main point is everyone can freely give their opinions but of course must be in accordance with the netiquette and do not hurt many people. For more explanation about the importance of netiquette, you can visit this website.

So, what about you? Do you think netiquette is important?