Chances are, you’ve been online in some form or another for a huge chunk of your life. Believe it or not, you might still need a refresher on these rules.
To me, these days it feels like people treat the internet like it’s „Westworld.“ For those who haven’t seen it, „Westworld“ is a TV show about a Western-style theme park inhabited by androids, where rich visitors can do anything they want to the androids with virtually no consequences. Of course, people online can have their real-life information doxxed and they can suffer legal consequences for their posts and messages, but generally speaking, people treat it like an alternate reality detached from the real one. They’ll tear someone a new one for the measliest of justifications, and research papers have proven that many social networks‘ algorithms amplify anger and hate. When it isn’t amplifying outrage, it’s amplifying our worst traits. It’s an utter crapfest, and we all need to step back and reevaluate how we interact with the online world.
Barring legislative power, we can’t stop social media algorithms from being built to wind us up. We can curate our Instagram page, we can abandon Twitter for arguably healthier options like Bluesky, but ultimately, it comes down to individual action. Put more good into the online world, and maybe someday you’ll get more good out of it.
If you want a healthier online experience, this is for you. Whether you find your blood pressure rising any time a fellow faceless internet stranger disagrees with you, or you’re concerned about what (and how much) you post — and anything in between — here are the etiquette tips that may make your relationship with the web more positive, productive, and safe.Live by the golden rule
Look at the comment section on any website — TikTok, Instagram, Reddit — and it feels less like a discussion and more like a roaring WWE stadium where the audience wants someone to take a chair to the face. The algorithms have trained us to attack over even the smallest amount of discontent, instead of giving others the benefit of the doubt. The internet would arguably be a far better place if everyone lived by the golden rule: Do to others what you would have them do to you. Or my personal favorite variation of this maxim: Do to others what they would have you do to them. In other words, exhibit empathy. Try to see things from their perspective, and if you can’t, take the high road.
During every online encounter, put yourself in other people’s shoes. You wouldn’t want somebody leaving an angry, mean-spirited comment on your post, so why would you do the same? Remind yourself that the person at the other end is a living, breathing human being, not your personal verbal punching bag. To be fair, there’s always a chance that you’re actually talking to a bot, but you should still strive to live by this principle, with the assumption the person you’re talking to is always real.
There are very few situations where treating someone negatively at the outset is warranted. Even if they started it, it’s best to just disengage. Block and report the people who demonstrate truly unacceptable behavior (racists, sexists, the obvious culprits) so you don’t put extra miles on your heart interacting with people who don’t act in good faith. And if it’s too tempting to lash out, maybe just turn off comments on your posts or avoid comment sections altogether.
