Message Boards

After surfing the huge, impersonal Internet for a while, you may run across message boards and want to participate in a more personal experience. Message boards are not chat rooms and different rules of etiquette apply. You can find friends with similar interests and exchange ideas on message boards, but your message board experience can be enhanced if you follow certain basic rules. You will probably not be kicked off of the board for not following the rules, but to break them makes you look like a "Newbie" or may reflect in a negative way on your character.

Safety first! Never give your full name, address, school's name, or other personal information which would allow someone to locate you on a message board. Use only a nickname or your user name on the board. You can give a state, country, or city if that information would not allow you to be found. Message boards are designed to be anonymous. When you post specific personal information, you are no longer anonymous. Almost anyone can read the message boards. Most of the readers are good people, but some of the message board readers, even though they might not reply, could be someone who may wish to cause you physical harm. Use extreme caution if you agree to a meeting with another message board user. This is especially important for children. Children should talk to their parents before arranging any meeting. They should have a responsible adult with them for any personal meetings. Those who use the message boards may not be truthful about their personal information. Keep in mind that people with harmful intentions could read your message board posts!

DON'T TYPE EVERYTHING IN UPPER CASE LETTERS! There is a shift key on each side of your key board, use them! Upper case letters on a message board are used to signify shouting. If you type everything in upper case, the readers will feel that you are shouting at them. If colors and backgrounds are available, be sure there is enough contrast in the colors you choose to make them readable. Post in fonts large enough to be easily read.

Break long posts up into paragraphs. Put a blank line between the paragraphs. Long, rambling posts are difficult to read. Breaking them up into paragraphs makes them more readable and divides the subject into shorter text blocks. If you are replying to more than one other post, place each reply in a separate paragraph. For replies to a specific user, place that user's name at the beginning of the paragraph. Non-specific replies are confusing and may anger some other user who is not familiar with the situation being discussed.

Keep it short! If the explanation does not require a long, rambling reply, do not post one. Try to be concise and give all the details, but eliminate unrelated or unnecessary language. If requesting help with a situation, remember that the message will be read by strangers who are not familiar with you and will need certain information to give a sensible reply, but don't give personal information in the post.

Proof read your post before putting it on the message board where others can read it. Make corrections before posting the message. Don't use acronyms (LOL,ROFL,BTW) when posting on message boards. Most of the readers will understand, but those not familiar with the acronyms will be confused. Acronyms are often used in chat rooms to speed up the exchanges, but speed is not needed on a message board and other users might not know what they mean. Text message contractions, (UR = your, 4 = for, CYA=See you) are not appropriate on a message board. Many of the readers are not familiar with these contractions and will not read a message that is difficult to translate into understandable language. The point of posting a message is to express your thoughts and opinions to others. If other readers cannot understand what you post, you have wasted both your and their time.

Spelling and grammar are important. You may have brilliant ideas, but if your spelling and grammar are sloppy, the other board users will see you as illiterate and ignorant. There are spelling checkers that can be placed on your browser tool bar to help make the posts more readable. Use punctuation and capitalization to break up your text into understandable sentences. Everyone makes mistakes. There are many grammar and spelling mistakes in this web page, but do the best you can. Correct spelling and grammar gives your messages more authority and gives the other board users a higher opinion of you. They know you only by your typed messages. Present yourself as neatly and correctly as possible.

Try not to engage in arguments on the message board. With so many different people expressing their opinions, there are bound to be differences. Use logic to get your points across. Cursing, name calling, or personal attacks do not help others see your point of view. These things only demonstrate to all who read, that you have little self control. Friendly banter and joking around is not a bad thing and makes your posts appear friendly and interesting, but don't let your jokes escalate into a war on the board. You have no control over other users' actions or opinions. State your position on a topic and let it stand. Keep the discussions calm. The point you are making will not be very convincing if the readers view out of control behavior on the board. Presenting yourself as if you were a guest on the Jerry Springer Show will not give others a very high opinion of your character. The message boards are anonymous, but you should express your views so that others will see good character behind your user name.

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