Recently, we have seen a lot of buzz about ethical posting on the Internet. We even have ministers coming in to give comments and there is talk about setting up agencies to police online postings, which is very much against the value of freedom that we usually enjoy on the Internet.
It set me thinking... why do we have such irresponsible behaviour on the Internet? Maybe it is just a lack of experience and knowledge. I mean, I come from a time in which the Internet was not widespread, and what we had back then were bulletin board systems (BBS). But it was enough for us to learn online etiquette. For those of us who had seen how flames wars can develop, or even unfortunate enough to be in a flame war, you will know what to avoid posting.
While it may not be realistic to make everyone learn from such painful experiences, maybe we can start with schools and at home, when kids are young. After all, kids nowadays go online at a very early age, and that is really the best time to start teaching them responsible online behaviour. Not about how to think or what to post, but rather, what is responsible posting. This may be a better option compared to policing the Internet, or having people tell us what to and what not to think/post.
It set me thinking... why do we have such irresponsible behaviour on the Internet? Maybe it is just a lack of experience and knowledge. I mean, I come from a time in which the Internet was not widespread, and what we had back then were bulletin board systems (BBS). But it was enough for us to learn online etiquette. For those of us who had seen how flames wars can develop, or even unfortunate enough to be in a flame war, you will know what to avoid posting.
While it may not be realistic to make everyone learn from such painful experiences, maybe we can start with schools and at home, when kids are young. After all, kids nowadays go online at a very early age, and that is really the best time to start teaching them responsible online behaviour. Not about how to think or what to post, but rather, what is responsible posting. This may be a better option compared to policing the Internet, or having people tell us what to and what not to think/post.
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