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Do you have any rules you try to follow when engaging with others online? (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

46 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm curious what, if any, guidelines people self-impose to try and engage in a productive way online (both on Lemmy and elsewhere). "Netiquette" if you will.

A couple of rules that I think are good practices, but still see too often, are:

don't pile onto the most downvoted comment. Kinda like don't feed the trolls, but it's more about not letting yourself get rage baited. Instead, downvote them and move on.
don't give a non-answer to someone's question. Ex. if someone asks how to do X, don't answer with, "Why are you trying to do X? You shouldn't want to do X. Do Y instead." Instead, explain what it would take to do X, and then offer Y as a possible alternative and why it may be a better option. But assume they already know about Y, and it doesn't fit their use-case.

For that last one, finding a thread where someone has asked the exact question you want answered, only to find a thread full of upvoted non-answers is up there with the dreaded "nvm, I figured it out - 10y ago".

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

For political disagreements, be wary of fruitless endeavors. 20 replies back and forth are pointless. Most of the time, my goal isn't to change that person's mind; it's to be the voice of disagreement so that others can either be exposed to my views and their rationalization or so that others who silently agree with me can see that these views aren't unpopular. After enough time passes, I tend to state that I'm disengaging because it's no longer going to catch the eye of many of these people.

In general, be courteous. Most people aren't assholes. Some people will have a bad day and maybe will take it out in you, but gently asking them to be courteous and not take their bad day out on you usually spurs some introspection and improves the interaction. If it doesn't, then they're really not mature enough to further engage with. Respect yourself and don't allow anybody excessive opportunity to ruin your day.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Spot-on with how and why to engage and when to drop.