Tagudinians Message Board
Netiquettes
We have etiquettes to follow when dealing with people in our daily living. There are also etiquettes they call "netiquettes" in the Internet that could serve as guides for good behavior when dealing with people in the different Internet communities. As the moderator, I decided to write a list for this message board so posters could have some guidelines when posting which could help the board to run as smoothly and orderly as possible and to avoid problems among the people who are reading and posting in this board. Most of the "netiquettes" in the list could also be applicable to any website, forums, message boards and others that you go visit in the World Wide Web.
Please read on and observe the "netiquettes". Thank you.
1.) Avoid using all caps with your posting unless it is necessary. Some people get very irritated by this since it is the equivalent of shouting. A lot of places in the internet take this practice seriously. Use it sparingly. Don't use it all the time to type your messages. Use it when you want to emphasize something in your message or if you have a very important message and want to make sure that it will not be missed. Although this is no big deal in this message board, I would suggest practicing it especially when you are visiting other websites.
2.) If you are posting an article or part of an article or anything that doesn't belong to you, please mention your source and the name of the author so the author can get credit of his/her writings if you know the source and the author. It would be less of a problem for you this way in case the original author finds his/her writings in the message board. This is unlikely but you just never know. It is easy to find information in the Internet.
If you are posting photos that are not yours, ask permission from the owners first. They might not want to have their photos being published so ask permission always if you don't want them getting mad at you.
3.) Be polite. Post as if you are talking to them in person face to face. It is always nice to be polite anyway. You will get respect and admiration from people this way.
4.) Be considerate to other people's feelings. Be careful and think about what you are going to post for people might misinterpret your message differently. Your post might be fine with you but it could be offensive to others. I have no control as the moderator of the message board on how people would react to your messages so in order to prevent undesirable messages that you might not like, be careful on what you are going to post.
The following are absolutely not allowed in the message board anyway: offensive and degrading messages, name calling, posting other people's personal matters without permission, indecent messages and false information. Please read the Terms Of Use at the heading.
5.) If a topic is something important or serious, please don't mix it with other messages that would make a mockery of the topic.
6.) Although it is optional to provide a valid name and email for now in this message board, in order for your message to be more believable or legit, sign your name and provide your email address when posting. This will also provide people information about where the messages are coming from and in case people would like to contact you regarding your messages. If you have done everything right and your conscience is good, you don't have anything to worry about. You have nothing to hide here.
7.) Give other people a chance to post. We are thankful and appreciative for your postings but you do not need to post to every single message in the board. We need to hear from other people too. Having messages from many different people would make the forum livelier and more interesting. It becomes monotonous reading messages from the same people after awhile. The message board is intended for everyone to use not just for a certain group or groups of people or a particular person. If there are not that many postings or the board is slow and you would like to stimulate conversations then your postings would be ok. However, when replying to the messages, please reply in a way that will not make the authors feel bad about their messages.
8.) Post relevantly. Stay in your topics. If your message does not belong to a topic, start a new post.
9.) If you are using the English language as your medium when posting, it is recommended to use common ordinary English so people would be able to understand and grasp the contents of your message easily. Don't use words that are out of this world especially if the audiences are common people. The use of high level English in this message board is fine but post your message where it is appropriate and in a manner that it doesn't intimidate but if your purpose is to show off your English writing skills and to show that you are better than everyone else then I would suggest to stop this practice if you don't want to be the object of ridicule or don't want people having negative impressions about you. After all a person's writing skill and proficiency in the English language or how articulate a person is do not necessarily represent a person's intelligence although those are good assets to have.
This is not a writing contest nor an English 101 or English 1A classroom. This is a meeting place for everyone to have fun. Post in the language you are most comfortable in that everybody in this message board can understand. Ilocano is a great medium and it is fun. However, please do not abuse it. Although it is good that your grammar and spellings are correct, I would not worry about it too much. Nobody is perfect. Proofreading your message for errors before hitting the send button is a good practice though.
10.) Exercise caution when posting jokes. While the message board allows jokes, please be selective on what kind of jokes you are going to post. Jokes with double meaning, X rated jokes, jokes about someone's religion, gender, life style and other sensitive issues and below the belt jokes which are directed to other people inside and outside the message board are not allowed.
11.) If you have a personal feud with any of the posters, please do not stage it here at the message board and although you can discuss anything you want here as long as they are acceptable, it is better for you to discuss personal matters outside the message board since you are dealing with a worldwide audience, and people could make false and negative assumptions.
12.) It is better to be humble in this message board if you don't want to be labeled as "adda angin na" as they say in Ilocano and other unflattering words. Unless it is part of the conversation, avoid mentioning things such as your accomplishments, your high paying job, expensive things you own, and what have you. Also, try to avoid being cocky if you can. A lot of people get irritated with this kind of behavior.
13.) Debates are welcomed in the message board but please reason with your mind and less with emotions and do not take it personally. Do not make insulting remarks if you happen to disagree with someone's opinion. It is not the end of the world. There are more important matters beside this message board.
14.) Avoid criticism and sarcasm. Make all posters feel that they are part of the group. Make them feel at home. You will make more friends in the process otherwise you will make a lot of enemies.
15.) Respect everyone's post as they respect yours.
16.) Controversial issues are fine so long as they are not intented for offending and degrading anyone. However, you must be ready and able to defend yourself for your controversial messages. A lot of times, these kinds of messages create tension so it is best to stick to messages that are informative, fun, and entertaining that everyone can relate to. You cannot go wrong with those kinds of messages.
18.) Please watch for your language when posting. We have obituaries, formal announcements, and other important messages here so please post appropriately.
17.) Avoid flaming or spamming. This means sending excessive unsolicited messages to the posters or to anybody through email or through the message board.
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