10 Tips for proper Forum Etiquette

Forum Etiquette - Be Nice, Okay?

Here are some general rules or expectations of good forum etiquette. They are numbered to outline them - they are not ranked in any particular order.

1. Avoid Rants or personal topics in a forum. A forum usually has threads organized around a common subject of interest. If your post is not about the topic or if you simple want to spout off about something that irks you, don't.

2. Be respectful of others. You will not agree with everyone, but everyone has a point of view that should be respected.

3. Avoid Advertising and Solicitation. Forums are a discussion about a topic. Readers and other contributors do not want to see posts that push a product. It's a turn off.

4. Stay away from "Necro-Bumping". This is an interesting term I ran across somewhere, and it cracked me up. Basically it means 'don't dig up the past'. Let's say you find a thread with 200 posts - the users have worked through months of issues - and then someone digs up an issue in post number 3 and comments on it without reading through the entire thread. This necrotic (dead) topic has now been bumped to the surface again. Keep your posts on-topic and if necessary, refer to an ancient dead post with a link in your post.

5. No Empty Posts. Empty posts are ones that say things like "I agree", "LOL", "Thumbs Up (or down)", etc. These gobble up space and dilute the importance of viewing New Posts". These comments are better tolerated on blogs than forums.

6. No Bumping (See article on Forum Topping/Bumping). A bump is a useless attempt to draw attention to your post. If people do not reply to your post you might want to research or make a further explanation on your topic, or accept that no one has an answer or no one cares about it. You see this a lot in auctions in forums - bumping to get to the head of the list - let the new bidders create the bump!

7. Don't Hijack a thread. Hijacking occurs when someone interrupts a discussion by interjecting an unrelated subject into the thread. You should start a new thread if your subject does not relate to the current thread.

8. No Spam. Closely related to #3. It is the scourge of the internet.

9. No Flaming. Flaming is directing negative or insulting comments at someone. This often results in a cycle of name calling, and is in really poor form.

10. Don't Cross-Post. If you have a question or issue post it in only one thread (or forum for that matter). Don't waste space and time by posting the same question in multiple locations.