Ethical Issues In Internet Community

We are now living in era where issues such as privacy, digital security, identity theft, spyware, phishing, Internet pornography and spam crossed our mind each and every second of our breath. These costly and time consuming concerns were completely foreign to the world community only a few years ago. Few laws and protocols have been developed with the intention of protecting the general citizenry from harm and organizations from financial loss and civil or criminal lawsuits.

In general, people have become more and more technologically savvy. In structure, the Web is as amorphous as the network itself; it is really nothing but a huge mass of documents located at various institutions around the world. Because these documents are all interconnected, inter-indexed, and inter-referenced, one can easily access information from several different countries in the period of a few moments.

Because the Internet is such a unique medium with the unique structure, people are having difficulty making rules for its use. There is nothing to stop someone from abusing the network. As with your daily actions with those around you, you will have to face the consequences of your behavior. If years of network use have produced anything resembling a system of order, it is surely embodied in what is called as netiquette. Netiquette is a conjunction formed from “network etiquette”, developed by some users in order to put certain controls and rules of network conduct. The interesting and unique thing about netiquette in contrast to a hard-and-fast system of rules is that it allows room for interpretation.

As for me, i have my own netiquette. Whoops whoops… I’m not saying that these rules was created by me. This is what I’ve been practice and it is very common sense, and I also found it is very benefit to me as one of the consistent user in this cyber world.

Joe’s Netiquette 1: MY WORDS ARE EASILY ACESSS

Whenever i compose an email or writing my own internet entry, i always assume that everyone in the world will read my words. Although e-mail is sent to only one person, but, it is very easy to forward the e-mail message to hundreds or thousands of people out there. (Unless, i have a complete trust that the recipient of my email will keep it confidential)

Anything put up on the Web is openly available for anyone in the world to see. The word ‘anyone’ not only includes our professors and classmates, but also the government, our office colleague, our neighbour and all people in the world. I always cautious with what i put on the web and make sure that my information is always appropriate, representative and informative as possible, as these people have only a small bit of information ( from my wording ) to simply judge me.

Joe’s Netiquette 2: THINK TWICE BEFORE REACT

Have you ever received an email message that suddenly strike you that seems to be a little too personal, or have you ever read a message in newsgroup that seems  to be a little too offensive ? of course, these may lead to misinterpreting the intent of the sender. Perhaps the message that we are taking so seriously was intended to be taken sarcastically–or perhaps we have stumbled upon a newsgroup where noone-holds-barred messages are tolerated, or even expected. Either way, it does no good to pour fuel on the fire of what could potentially become a “flame war,” where a few people engage in pointless verbal warfare, usually as the result of a misinterpreted message or an undiscriminating author.

YES – YES – YES !!.. yes i’m giving you the BIG YES here. One of the biggest drawbacks of communicating electronically is the difficulty of communicating emotions through text. When we communicate electronically, all that we see is our computer screen. we don’t have the opportunity to use facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice to communicate our meaning; it just words—a lonely written words–thats all we’ve got. And that goes for our correspondent as well.

So, if we the sender, read our entry, again and again, think the consequences of our wording again and again, before press on the enter button. And if we the reader /recipient, read again and again, understand the content before we jump into the conclusion.

Joe’s Netiquette 3: BE A GOOD USER

In the cyberworld, we are commonly known only through our email address. Many people interpret this as a free license to verbally assault anyone who rubs them the wrong way.

Since the Internet is so flexible, those user who really know how to use it, can wreak “virtual havoc” upon our “virtual world.” They may not be able to hunt us down and dismember us, or even send us a letter bomb via Poslaju Mail. But, remember this,  it is not all that difficult for a hacker seeking revenge to effectively disable us link to the Internet. Ever imagine finding 10,000 new messages in our emailbox every day? Such a cruel form of revenge is surprisingly feasible, without all that much effort on the part of the infuriated avenger.

So, behave on-line as you would in person. Watch what you type and how your word potentially volatile statements. Assume that what you say will be taken in the worst possible way, and that if someone is upset enough by it, it will come back to haunt you.

Joe’s Netiquette 4: BE A SMART WRITER

We all want to be think that we make a good impression. In the virtual world, though, an impression isn’t made by a nice suit and a clean shave–you could be naked for all those out in Cyberworld care. Your writing, on the other hand, will be highly scrutinized. If you write well, you will likely come off as educated, intelligent, and respectable. If you compose hastily and sloppily, however, your readers may perceive you, perhaps inaccurately, as uneducated and unintelligent.

If you want to make a good impression on those out in the Cyberworld, it’s a good idea to make your writing look as professional as possible. any reader will likely take your message as seriously as you make it look. If you don’t bother to make your message intelligible, chances are he won’t take its contents very seriously. On the other hand, if you take a few minutes to compose thoughtfully, your reader may pay a little extra attention to what you have to say.

What i’ve been post today is my practise and may be considered as  just some of the rules or code of ethics used on the Internet.

Dear friends , remember my say :

“The Internet is a large place to get lost in, and also a large place to get into trouble. Always make certain that your netiquette is up to the mark and no one has a chance to point a finger at you”

-peace-