NETIZEN NORMS

Even as India is struggling to get all its citizens literate, the very term has expanded both literally and figuratively. Countries are not just rated on their literacy levels anymore but also on their 'e-literacy' rates. Now that you are reading this article, on a web portal you are a member of the fast exploding Netizens Club. Just like any society having its own set of norms, the web too is weaving for itself a set of codes and etiquette. Cyber buffs refer to it as 'netiquette'.

It is interesting to note that till a few years ago the word ‘Internet’ never featured in any encyclopedia. Today not only does the net out beat any encyclopedia in terms of content but many encyclopedias themselves are on the net and have gone off print. Though the Internet is popularly used among the masses in our country for its facilities like e-mail and chat, it's use for more value added services is only to follow.

With that will increase the number of people one interacts with and their diversity too, in terms of sex, race, location etc. Hence it is necessary to adhere to the rather simple rules when connected, very much similar to the ones that apply to everyday life.

e-mail norms

People pay for the time they use on the net by the minute, for the majority of the people in India who use it from Internet parlours its even worse. Keep the matter you send to the bare minimum. A line should preferably be limited to 65 or 75 characters and attachments best not exceed 55 Kilobytes. Big files can follow a note about the size, so the receiver is aware of the time it might take to download. Both the receiver and the sender stand to benefit as both spend around the same amount for every mail. It is also against ‘netizen’ norms to send people ‘junk’ mail and unwarranted ‘chain’ letters.

Useful Tips

For the very reason that we have no clue about the person we interact with, it is safe to refrain from making racial remarks or expressing political convictions. Ambiguity should be totally done away with, as there is less scope for clarifications and lots of room for misinterpretations. Keyboard-generated icons are widely used to compliment, highlight or even express your emotions. Use both upper and lower case, typing in caps is equated to screaming in a conversation; instead asterisks before and after do a good job to emphasize a point.

Security

No matter how secure your e-mail ID appears to be, it is more like sending messages on a post card, refrain from sending confidential messages to your friend, sexually and racially disturbing e-mails can even take you to court and always remember to log out properly, lest you have a stranger pouring over your mails.

Chat norms

Chat is another popular feature of the Internet that has kept people glued to their computer screens. The fact about this electronic conversation is that one can shield their true identity and slip into a fictitious character easily to facilitate imagination and fantasy. Before you actually start chatting it will help to just log in to a site and observe the activity, sprucing up your typing skills before you take the plunge will surely benefit! Though it is bound to improve as you go along. Pointing out spelling or grammatical mistakes is impolite; the idea is to convey a message.

Downloading Information

The Internet being a storehouse of information there is always an urge to download stuff and reproduce it too. Though stringent laws are not yet in place, be vary of the copyright laws, which normally appear at the end. It is not appropriate to violate them and when information is pulled out it is ‘netiquette’ to give due credit.

All our lives are to be interconnected through the net in more ways than one, soon. For the common benefit of all fellow ‘Netizens’, it will be ideal to adhere to these rather basic norms. Taking personal care for Net society’s benefit.