By: Islam Web

Whoever takes part in internet chats on the international and Arab level may think that "it is out of control,” but he meanwhile rests assured that this enormous quantity of ill speech on the internet has no real effect on public life except that it provokes self-repression. That is because the speech, no matter how impressive it is, remains of no avail in this intangible electronic space unless it is practically applied in real life.

Apart from the chats that take place among people of common interest and who have to abide by a strict code of patterns and rules, otherwise they will be rejected, the internet becomes void of any restrictions. 

Even when it comes to Netiquette, a set of behavioral recommendations that define the etiquette and rules of dealing with the different websites and whose terms were accumulated by means of practice, it is not binding at all, nor is it possible to be so.

To put an end to clear degradation, it is not enough to call for "mutual respect and keeping away from slandering and insulting" – this slogan that usually appears when "entering" forums and chat rooms. Since its very emergence, the internet made it easy for many to assume the title "anonymous", which means (that they would not be held accountable for anything). As such, they used the unseen corners (of these forums and chats) as "silent dark rooms" in which they would speak with what they could not say in the public. A quick glance at some online chats, discussions, and messages affirm the authenticity of this point.

These "silent dark rooms" are actually the abodes of weak language, misspellings and grammatical mistakes, disunity of content, and deviation of thoughts. Besides, when you delve into these rooms, you will find nothing but triviality, degradation, ignorance, showing-off, grudge, and contempt of the "other". 

This abovementioned speech does not mean those who do not take the internet as a cover for their schizophrenia, but rather they expressly unveil their true characters and places and announce their actions and sayings. Many are indeed the cases in which people agree with others on ideas, projects, and companies. You might even find cases in which people on the internet agree on public marriage and on having the courage to be in contact with strangers who are of different cultures and homes and to accept them as they are - as long as their claim is proven to be true. However, these examples are few if compared with the large amount of trivia. 

As such, Netiquette seems to be an attempt to narrow down differences in culture, language, and customs among the connected people through suggesting means on how to express oneself and deal with others in writing - by default - in a manner that enables serious users to avoid falling into the traps of nuances they might be unaware of. 

For this, Netiquette encourages people to have good manners through moderation, magnanimity and wisdom – all of which are points that could be fulfilled through being careful when giving answers, not to speak too much, and keeping away from extreme brevity.

People who laid downs these rules have actually defined some unfavorable practices that should be avoided, as follows: -

-       Sending a message that asks others to forward it to other users;

-       Posting untruthful news;

-       Posting personal messages without getting the permission from their main composers;

-       Engaging in heated debate or stirring up unrest/provocation; or incitement.

-        Using capital Latin letters in writing, not to be construed as some sort of shouting. When it comes to Arabic, internet users – according to Netiquette – should not use (…) too much, not to make the reader confused as he might think that he has to fill in the missing space. As such, they came up with some recommendations, including the following: - words in the one line should not exceed (65) characters; signature should be placed in addition to the name and coordinates; the subject matter of the message should be clearly reflected in the subject title; users should greet each other when entering/leaving the chat rooms; users should carefully examine the opinions previously mentioned before they enter the room; and users should read the rules governing a certain group before entering its room, taking into account that it is preferable to examine the previously-posted contents to avoid repetitions.

Source: Al-Hayah Newspaper.