Common Sense and The Internet

I am a part of an online group made up of people from my local community and it is an interesting cross section of folks. This group is not in any way affiliated with my local government, although it bears the name of our city as a means of identifying (in a very general sense) what the group is about and who it is aimed at. Unfortunately, because of the wide diversity of folks in the group, things sometimes get a little bit crazy. There are three administrators of the group who try to hold down the fort, but they have lives offline too and can't be there to police every single jot and tittle that is posted. When things go pear-shaped, there seems to be a lot of confusion as to what the purpose of the group is, what the rules actually are, and what the administrators are supposed to do about it. A lot of this confusion could be avoided by following some common sense rules. With that in mind, here are The Momma's Rules of Online Etiquette:

1. Almost every online group, forum, or bulletin board has rules about posting and they are almost always in an easy to find spot. READ the rules before posting. If you can't find them, contact an administrator privately and ask before posting. If you can't be bothered to read them, then don't post.
2. When you post, refrain from using ALL CAPS FOR EVERYTHING. This is an old online etiquette rule going way back to the earliest days of the internet. Typing something in all caps (that is, all capital letters) is the online equivalent of shouting at someone in person.
3. If you can't say something nice, then say nothing at all. Genuine kindness, compassion, and helpfulness (when it is desired) are always a good thing. Negativity, derision, and judgment are not. Employ the Golden Rule at all times.
4. You do not HAVE to read everything that crosses your computer/phone/tablet screen. You choose what you want to read. Get to know the administrative features of the websites you use most frequently and make use of them. When all else fails, you can turn off the computer altogether.
5. Please do your very best to use proper grammar and punctuation when posting something online. Spelling words correctly is important too. These may not seem like a big deal, but they can make the difference between having your message read and understood or having it ignored, dismissed, and misunderstood. Which would you rather have?
6. Repeat after me: "I do not know you or your real life situation  just as you do not know me and my real life situation." You may think you know someone, but until you've spent time with them in real time and in person, you really don't know very much about them at all. Real life is real life and the internet is, at best, only a reflection of real life.
7. Some people online get a special joy out of tormenting others or trying to stir up drama within a group. The internet slang for these people is trolls. They live to provoke and get an emotional response from others. A common phrase uttered when one sees a troll trying to start something in an online forum is: "Do not feed the troll." In other words, ignore, ignore, ignore. Don't feed the troll by giving him or her a response to their idiocy.

I think that covers most of the bases. There are other things I could include, but that's the biggest of the lot as far as common sense stuff. Really, I suppose the lot of this boils down to #3 and that is to say, be kind. Actually, that one two word phrase really sums up a lot of common sense when it comes to dealing with other people. It is a very simplistic version of what Jesus said when asked by the Sadducees what the greatest commandment was. He said: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39) When we are kind to others, we show them both our love of God and our love of neighbour and in doing so, we follow more closely after Christ.