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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]

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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 11 hours ago

            
              Read the room.  If it looks like a glorified echo chamber you'll get downvoted to oblivion.  If you try to debate you might get banned.  This is usually the case with news and political groups.
Don't get pulled into pointless fights with trolls.  You can usually spot them because they try to take the discussion on a radical detour or pointless pick a fight.  Don't let yourself get baited.
Don't tell people to "google it".  They are probably looking for other's insights.  If you can't answer their question or add to it then don't respond.
If a topic is upsetting and you feel the urge to rant it is best to just walk away from it.
Try to take the high road and be polite even if they aren't.  Win by being nice, others will notice it.
Finally, if someone is just totally unreasonable or even sounds nuts don't engage them.  Block them if necessary.