9 Principles of Forum Etiquette
Darren Rowse has posted his latest entry in the “31 Days to Build a Better Blog” series about Joining a Forum and Start Participating. A commenter asked experienced forum users to share some etiquette. Since much of my traffic comes from forums like MacRumors, I thought I would share some insight.
1. Tread lightly- do not immediately dive into a discussion about site mechanics, forum rules you don’t agree with, or get into direct disagreements with long-standing members about such things. You just come off as looking foolish, and you will start off on the wrong foot with basically everyone.
2. Learn to SEARCH the forum archives- There are few things more annoying than people who ask a question with their first post that has already been answered dozens of times in the past.
3. Don’t “drive-by” post- Become a part of the forum community.
4. Be reasonable- Don’t use loud colors, annoying animated gifs, or anything that unnecessarily raises your profile in your avatar or signature.
5. Read the forum rules, especially regarding links, post length, and general forum protocol. Many forums do not allow posting of links until you’ve reached a certain number of posts. Almost all forums frown on posting one-word responses, “+1″s, or smilies. For tech support forums, educate yourself on touchy issues like discussion of torrents or unsolicited advertising.
6. If someone does not immediately respond to your post, don’t repeatedly “bump” it. You just come off as self-absorbed. If someone has something interesting to add to the discussion you started, someone will post it.
7. If you see a post that breaks the rules, don’t feel bad about reporting it to the moderation team. Reporting is almost always anonymous to the general public, and oftentimes (especially in big forum communities) the moderators rely on help from their users.
8. Format your posts nicely- This means using punctuation, paragraphs, adhering to language conventions, and not using excessive punctuation. Loading a thread and being greeted with a huge block of text in capital letters is a sure way to get either ignored or banned. This also means making use of hyperlink parsers, quoting, and proper attachment management.
9. Learn to lurk- Start off slowly by reading threads for a while before posting. You will learn the general attitude of forum members and be able to make a more graceful entry into the community.
Lastly I would like to list some common forum terms you might come across.
- trolling- posting an intentionally inflammatory remark with the intent to rile up fellow forum members.
- thread hijack- making a reply that has an entirely different subject than the original post.
- flame- a negative post or personal insult intended to incite a negative response.
- bump- replying to a thread you started in order to move it to the top of the forum. Generally frowned upon- if someone has an answer to your question, they will post it.
- thread revive/necrobump- replying to an old post no longer relevant.
Following these nine principles will get you off to a good start almost anywhere. Are there any things I missed? Leave a note in the comments.
