 We've all been there one time or another. Whether it's getting sucked into a stupid argument on Facebook or falling victim to a troll in the comments of a YouTube video, it is easy to lose one's composure online. Mediated communications scholars have been studying this for decades and might have some suggestions as to how we might better manage it. Welcome back. Today we're going to talk about the importance of appearing professional online. We'll go over the basics of online etiquette, also known as netiquette, and talk about some of the ways you can keep it classy online. As technology becomes larger and larger part of our day-to-day lives, it has become easy to fall into some bad habits. In a later video I'm going to talk about how these habits can cause problems in our interpersonal relationships, but today I wanted to focus on how we misuse technology in our professional lives. Let's start by talking a little about norms. As we grow up, we naturally observe the way those around us interact with each other. Behaviors that fall within social practice of acceptability become reinforced and normalized. Behaviors that violate these expectations tend to be punished or discouraged. Think about when you were a kid and a parent scolded you for loudly slurping your food at the dinner table. These types of social norms are informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society. Norms are regarded as collective representations of acceptable group conduct, as well as individual perceptions of particular group conduct. They can be viewed as cultural products, including values, customs, and traditions, which represent individuals' basic knowledge of what others do and think that they should do. It is important to note that social norms vary wildly. My aforementioned example of a parent disciplining a child for slurping soup is built on a politeness norm typically observed in the United States and some other countries. However, in Korea, Vietnam, China, and many other countries, slurping is not considered a rude behavior. In fact, in Japan, slurping can be considered a sign of appreciation. The key takeaway is that individual cultures and groups over time will form expectations of what is socially acceptable and what is not. Further, these things are always evolving and thus are always in flux. That brings us back to mediated communication. Much like any group of people, the collection of human beings that make up communities in cyberspace also form their own cultures. Historically, this has led to some issues. In face-to-face settings, we tend to engage in practices of politeness and face-saving. And personally, practicing these norms helps us effectively maintain their relationships and avoid embarrassment and generally come across as what we consider polite. Things sometimes change when we add a mediated channel to the equation. Mediated methods of communicating add a certain amount of technological distance and noise to the communicative interaction. Also, when it comes to simpler channels of mediated communication like chat or other text-based interaction, there is a significant reduction if not full elimination of non-verbal cues. In the early days of Usenet and CompUser, which were early group discussion systems, users noticed that oftentimes all civility would break down and lead to online fights and conflicts. And if you've spent much time reading through the comments on YouTube videos or on political Facebook posts, you may notice that this is a phenomenon that continues today. In 1995, Virginia Shea attempted to standardize etiquette in her book, Neticit. Shea had spent a great amount of time studying various online communities. She noticed that some communities had developed strategies to limit infighting and avoid communicated breakdowns that occurred in some groups. Out of her research came her 10 rules for communicating ethically in the mediated age. Let's look at them and how they are still relevant today. Rule number one, remember the human. When you find yourself communicating across mediated channels, remember that you are interacting with actual people. Follow the classic rule of treating other people the same way you wish to be treated. That goes a long way towards preserving civility and decorum. Rule number two, adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life. It is easy to feel insulated on the internet. This has led to situations where folks who would never even contemplate insulting a person in a face-to-face interaction have gone as far to incite violence against others. A somewhat dangerous and recent trend amongst online gamers is called swatting. This illegal tactic involves disgruntled players calling the police on online opponents in hopes that they will disrupt their gameplay or punish them after the fact. In 2017, an incident of swatting led Wichita Police to fatally shoot a gamer in Kansas. While this is obviously an extreme example, it is important to remember that ethical behavior is just as important online as it is face-to-face. And breaking the law is just as problematic via mediated channels as it is in other aspects of our lives. Rule number three, know where you are in cyberspace. The internet is a vast collection of communities and what is appropriate in terms of communicated norms varies from one domain to another just as etiquette varies from one co-culture to another. When choosing to engage in a new form of mediated communication takes some time to get to know the community before you dive in. Just like face-to-face interactions, observing others to determine norms is one of the best ways to determine how you ought to behave. Rule number four, respect other people's time and bandwidth. It is really easy to become egocentric in mediated channels. It is important to remember that the ease of communicating with vast and specialized groups of people does not always mean that you should. Have you ever been sitting in a face-to-face class and had a classmate ask countless questions that were easily found on the assignment guide or in the course syllabus? If so, you may have experienced what it is like when someone is not sensitive to how information seeking can impact other's scarcity of time. When asking questions online or via email, consider if engaging in the interaction is the best way to get what you are looking for. Have you tried looking for what you seek by yourself? One of the amazing things about the internet is much of what exists in the human pool of knowledge has been archived. Try doing a search before you strike up a conversation. This saves both your time and the time of others. Rule number five, make yourself look good online. There's a cliche saying, the internet is forever. When you interact online, there's a chance what you say and do may come back to haunt you. Oh, brah, it's just like, dude, you get the best barrels ever, dude. Just like, you pull in and you just get spit right out of them, and you just drop in and just smack the lip, hop, drop down, snap, and then after that, you just drop in, you just ride the barrel and get pitted, so pitted like that. When communicating via mediated channels, know that you are judged on the quality of your message. Pay attention to the content of your messages and strive for clarity and logic. Do not post messages that may encourage flaming responses. Basically, don't be a troll. Rule number six, share expert knowledge. Being genuinely helpful online goes a long way towards encouraging civil discourse and improving online spaces. Do your best to offer information and answer questions that are asked. Avoid spreading sensational and false information. Rule number seven, help keep flame wars under control. They're inevitably going to be folks online who expend a great amount of their time and energy to perpetuate negativity. When others express strongly held negative emotional opinions, do not fan the flames, often choosing to engage in these type of internet arguments just encourages more of the same opt out. Rule number eight, respect other people's privacy. The temptation to access the data of others is a huge ethical concern in the modern era. Shade's original concerns had to do more with reading others emails. But in the modern era, that has expanded to include social media DMs, text messages, and many other digital footprints of our mediated interactions. Respecting the privacy of others is paramount and have detrimental impacts on our relationships if we fail to do so. Rule number nine, do not abuse your power. Just because you have access to other people's devices, phones, computers, online accounts, and so on, do not take advantage of this access. This rule has led to some lively debate amongst parents. Research published by a 2016 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 61 percent of parents checked websites that their teenagers visited. 60 percent visited their social media accounts and 48 percent looked through their phone calls and messages. The portion that tracked their teenagers whereabouts through their cell phones GPS was 16 percent. Technology makes this kind of surveillance possible. We as a society are still struggling to decide if it is ethical to use it. Rule number 10, forgive other people's errors. Hey, we all make mistakes and it is easy to misperform in different online spaces. On more than one occasion, I've received a 1 a.m. email from a student in all caps demanding that I email them back within minutes. It's easy to want to reprimand this kind of behavior, but that is probably not the most productive path forward. Rule 10 tells us to be kind when responding to violations of netiquette and let the minor errors go by. She's rules have really withstood the test of time, which is a real rarity in computer mediated communication theory. Today, we discuss the importance of online etiquette and discuss the 10 rules of netiquette. So the next time that you want to rage, just remember the immortal words of Brad Paisley, the internet is forever. Thanks for watching. This video series is written and produced by me, Ryan Guy, with the help of a wide variety of scholarly research and open educational resources. For more information on the references and materials used, see the description page on YouTube. This video is published under a Creative Commons license. 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