Social Media Etiquette

To put this article in perspective, I have been on the Internet exactly for my adult life (defined at the time as starting at 18 years old).

I received 4 character alphanumeric for user ids: F4BN, F9F5 and GBB8. These were for my Fall 1988 computer course (Fortran77), for personal use and then Spring 1989 computer course (Sun Graphics) respectively. These accounts have been closed for 26 years and the server is probably in a museum.

I later learned about message boards. I remember someone posted the entire script for Star Trek: Generations. It was removed quickly (after a day or so). It has been re-posted many times since, sometimes in other countries.

Digression: That would have been the first Star Trek movie where you would see Kirk orbital skydiving. 1994 not 2009.

Originally, to post content to the Internet, you may have needed to know Unix, use an FTP program to upload files at 14,000 baud or you could post to a news group (text only).

Since that time, pictures and video have been added. There have been many browsers that made browsing the Internet easier and easier: NCSA Mosaic, Netscape, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome and others.

Now for the “Social Media Etiquette” part.

With use, there is responsibility. In 2005, I found an item on Nitcentral from November 1998 asking when Star Trek IV occurred according to the movie props. I was able to answer my own question a few months later, when I saw the glasses from Star Trek The Experience in Las Vegas, now closed. Ironically the page says that the archives are on Geocities.  I won’t link to it because they closed in 2009.  I posted observations and interests and I have had no regrets that I posted it.

I have had web pages since 1995. I have been on Twitter since 2011 with a personal / business account which is still up and running and a sarcastic account which has been deleted. I even decided to get on Facebook, however I have let it lay fallow (not planting anything) and for a time I deactivated it. In 2012, I bought a website and domain for personal and business purposes.

Some people go in a different direction.

Some are looking for an argument where none is necessary. They are trying to find an outlet for their bitterness or revenge.

Some share too much. Like every meal, personal hygiene activities, every activity while they’re on vacation – translation – we’re not home.

Remember, anything that is posted to the Internet is there forever, even if you delete it. Snapchat may be an exception.

There is some level of disconnect when posting to the Internet about someone. It goes back to this. If you have a disagreement with someone, speak to them directly. If you do not come to an agreement, bring someone with you.

If you go behind someone’s back on social media making an issue larger than it needs to be is immature. This goes back to my first line. I have been on the Internet my entire adult life.