Erosian's Declassified Online Survial Guide

[Erosian]

Hello, and welcome to the wonderful world of the internet! Marvel at you may at the technological advances, there are still many dangers lurking about. That's why I, Erosian, have created the Declassified Online Survival Guide! Here, I will provide short rules of thumbs to help your surfing experience truly pleasurable and fun.

Such as the vast space of the information superhighway, I cannot complete this task alone. Thus, feel free to add some advices, tips, or categories of your own. As the Rules amass, I will be updating this first post, listing all that our collective knowledges have combined.

Below are some categories to ease your search, should you need help. Have fun, contribute, and tread carefully!

But first, the Golden Rule:
Never form close bonds with anyone you meet online! This could lead to messy attachments that could create unnecessary headaches later on. If you have to form a relationship with someone over the internet, make sure to establish clear boundaries right off the bat!

FORUM

CYBER ROLEPLAYS
Distinguish action from speech. To avoid confusion between what you want to say, and what you want the person to see you think, use asterisks (*), parentheses, brackets, or even quotes to separate the two.

Be descriptive. Nothing is worse than someone just mashing down the "m" key while you're doing all the work and painting a picture with words.

Provide warnings. Chances are, you're supposed to be doing something more productive while you're playing (paying bills online, research, at work, etc.). It's not uncommon for interruptions to occur. However, it is not courteous to just abandon the conversation for minutes without so much as a heads-up. A simple "brb" could save time, and let the partner know that you will be occupied for a while.

EMAILS

 

[Nightbird]

I totally disagree with some of your above statements.

 

[Erosian]

Which parts?

 

[done_got_old]

Hello, and welcome to the wonderful world of the internet! Marvel at you may at the technological advances, there are still many dangers lurking about. That's why I, Erosian, have created the Declassified Online Survival Guide! Here, I will provide short rules of thumbs to help your surfing experience truly pleasurable and fun.

Such as the vast space of the information superhighway, I cannot complete this task alone. Thus, feel free to add some advices, tips, or categories of your own. As the Rules amass, I will be updating this first post, listing all that our collective knowledges have combined.

Below are some categories to ease your search, should you need help. Have fun, contribute, and tread carefully!

But first, the Golden Rule:
Never form close bonds with anyone you meet online! This could lead to messy attachments that could create unnecessary headaches later on. If you have to form a relationship with someone over the internet, make sure to establish clear boundaries right off the bat!

FORUM

CYBER ROLEPLAYS
Distinguish action from speech. To avoid confusion between what you want to say, and what you want the person to see you think, use asterisks (*), parentheses, brackets, or even quotes to separate the two.

Be descriptive. Nothing is worse than someone just mashing down the "m" key while you're doing all the work and painting a picture with words.

Provide warnings. Chances are, you're supposed to be doing something more productive while you're playing (paying bills online, research, at work, etc.). It's not uncommon for interruptions to occur. However, it is not courteous to just abandon the conversation for minutes without so much as a heads-up. A simple "brb" could save time, and let the partner know that you will be occupied for a while.

EMAILS

What makes you an expert?

 

[Erosian]

I'm not. I'm just laying out a baseline for anyone to comment or correct. This is suppose to be a know-all for an amalgam of experiences.

So...which part? Or do you apparently disagree with the whole thing because you thought I thought I'm an expert?

 

[SweetErika]

Hello, and welcome to the wonderful world of the internet! Marvel at you may at the technological advances, there are still many dangers lurking about. That's why I, Erosian, have created the Declassified Online Survival Guide! Here, I will provide short rules of thumbs to help your surfing experience truly pleasurable and fun.

I don't know what Nightbird disagrees with, but I disagree with the tone, which is why I'm guessing it didn't garner the participation/responses you hoped it would.

On a forum, and board, of mostly Internet-savvy people, the above especially strikes me as condescending and egotistical. To expand on what Done said, it comes off as 'I'm an authority with a bunch of secrets, and you lucky bastards should be grateful to get them.' "XYZ's Guide to..." and "Secrets to..." threads rarely go over well here, likely because they usually carry the same type of tone and repeat stuff the well-versed community here already knows. I don't even know how well it would have gone over on an "Internet for Dummies" board.

It's very important for writers to know, and cater to, their audience, no?

But first, the Golden Rule:
Never form close bonds with anyone you meet online! This could lead to messy attachments that could create unnecessary headaches later on. If you have to form a relationship with someone over the internet, make sure to establish clear boundaries right off the bat!

It's a good idea to establish clear boundaries and expectations from the start, but I strongly disagree 'not forming bonds with anyone one meets online' is a golden rule. Many people use the Internet to find relationships of all kinds, and do so quite successfully, I might add. My life has certainly been enriched because I've been open to bonding with people online who strike me as interesting and like-minded.

While it's ill-advised to form bonds and make grand plans for the future with people we only know through online or casual relations (e.g. cybersex, NSA sex), there's nothing wrong with keeping an open mind about finding special people online, IMO.