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Discussion Board Etiquette

  • 01 Dec 2012 4:42 PM
    Message # 1150294
    Anonymous member (Administrator)
    Webopedia gives the following reminders for discussion board interactions and posts.

    Netiquette: Good Forum Etiquette

    An important term that you should be aware of and know about is "netiquette". This term is a contraction of Internet etiquette, and it's really the etiquette guidelines for posting messages to online services. Netiquette covers not only rules to maintain civility in discussions (i.e., avoiding flames), but also special guidelines unique to the electronic nature of forum messages. In most cases, netiquette is enforced by the forum administrator.  One of the biggest issues facing those unfamiliar with using online forums is that they may not even be aware of what constitutes netiquette. To get you started with using online forums here are some tips to get you started and keep you from being banned on forums;

    • Do Stay On Topic. Many people use forums for knowledge gathering as well as social interactions. Forum posts and threads can be read by hundreds or thousands of users, and as such it's important to read the topic of a particular discussion and keep your posts related to that topic. If you are looking for general chat and comments, look in the forums for an off-topic discussion area.
    • Don't Be A Troll. A "troll" is a person who breaks netiquette on a regular basis by posted inflammatory messages (called a flame) when responding to other users in the forums. Trolls are also users who will find older flame-filled threads on a forum and reply to them just to get users worked up again.
    • Do Turn That Caps Lock Key Off. When you type a post in all capital letters you are going to annoy other forum users. Capital letters are viewed as shouting when communicating online, and it is considered rude to do.
    • Don't Double Post. When using Internet forums it annoys other users when you post the same message more than once, in more than on discussion thread. If you make a post and no one replies, then leave it at that. Reposting the same message or slightly edited versions of the same message will not earn you any respect from other forum users, and in fact it may earn you warnings from the moderator.
    • Do Search Before Posting. Before posting a question or asking for help on a particular topic, do use the forum search option to make sure this question has not already been asked and answered by other users. Even if your question does not appear in the thread list, it may still be available as an archived topic in the forum.
  • 12 Jan 2013 7:03 AM
    Reply # 1178056 on 1150294
    Shawn Towle
    Although I have participated in online discussions for courses I have taken in the past, I never really felt that I understood how to effectively communicate in this very different kind of conversation.  I was surfing the web for some ideas about online discussions and came across these ideas from Los Angeles Valley College website that I will think about as I participate in the book study discussion:

    When you are posting a message to the discussion topic in general, click on "post reply" to that topic. When you are commenting on a particular post by a classmate, use the "quote" feature. When you want to start a new topic of conversation, click on "new topic."

      To know when your response has received a comment from a classmate, before you click “submit,” check the box that says “notify me when a reply is posted.” You will be sent an email message to whatever email address you registered for the class with telling you that a reply has been posted. ETUDES also allows you to "watch" a topic and send you an email when new posts are submitted to it.

    Here are some additional tips for creating good online discussions:
    • Select a post that made you think, surprised you, that you learned something from, that you agreed with, that you disagreed with, that you had a question about, or that struck you in some way.

    • Reply to a specific idea in a post rather than the whole post whenever possible. Use “quote” when you are directly commenting on a classmate’s post; use “post reply” when you are responding to the discussion topic as a whole. 

    • In most class discussions, you are allowed to disagree with each other’s perspective, but always be polite about it. Never post a message saying anything that you would not be willing to say to someone’s face. However, healthy intellectual disagreement is a good thing.

    • Ask the original responder a question in your reply. You can ask for clarification, elaboration, or to apply the idea to a specific situation, and so on. Be sure to reply to any questions asked of you.

    • Be yourself and have fun!.

    • Don’t worry about trying to sound too smart, just focus on being engaged with the material and the thoughts of your classmates.

    • Do edit and spell check your posts to make sure they are readable. However, we also need to be tolerant of each other’s typos :-).

    • Remember the rule “Expect to be misunderstood.” It can be difficult to express your tone to others. Humor is especially hard to convey in writing.  Use emoticons, such as smilies, whenever appropriate to help communicate your tone.



    Source:  http://www.lavc.edu/virtualvalley/ols/lesson_4_online_discussions.html
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