Readings, Week One

This week had four reading assignments:

I found "The Core Rules of Netiquette" very interesting.  I assumed, when I started reading it, that I would familiar with all the rules,  as I've grown up with the internet and use it several times a day.  However, I've never really participated in discussion boards, which this ten-step manual talked about quite a bit.  I was surprised to learn all the rules of internet discussion, and it made me more interested in joining a few discussion boards.  I liked learning about "flaming"- although I've never been on a discussion board, I think that my Facebook page has been flamed- leading to absurdly long and hostile discussions via comments on some status that I thought totally innocent.

"On the internet, no one knows you're a dog": This comic reminded me of Brad Paisley's song "Online."  It's about a nerdy guy who is someone completely different when he's on the internet.  I find the song kind of annoying, but it proves a good point, just like this comic.

I read the majority of "Conversational Cheap Shots: How NOT to Talk!" aloud to my roommate Jodie, and we couldn't stop laughing and repeating the phrase, "Someone has done that to me!"  We especially understood the annoyance that comes from the "Complimentary Insult," both of us having been the victim of "Wow, you look cute today."  Jodie and I also talked about a mutual friend who is a veritable master of the "Studies Have Shown" technique, making up whatever statistics will suit him.  One conversational cheap shot that the website didn't mention is "The Non-Apology Apology." This consists of pretending to apologize for something you did to someone else, but twisting it so that you are really saying you feel sorry because they feel bad.  I tried this on my parents: when they asked me to apologize for saying something they felt was inappropriate, I responded with, "I'm sorry that you found what I said to be offensive."  It didn't work- at all.

"Email Etiquette" was a very informative read.  I'd always wondered when, and how often, you should use a greeting in an e-mail, and how to write a professional sounding e-mail requesting information from someone I've never met before.