Draft for Facebook/Style Manual
Netiquette for Facebook Newbie
Chances are if you do not understand the terms in the title of this manual then you will benefit from the following top 10 rules of netiquette, a term used for interacting with others while on the internet. The rules of netiquette can be applied or adapted to any forum or social networking site.
For the purposes of demonstration I will be using Facebook to provide examples. Facebook has become increasingly popular. Young and old alike are using Facebook to keep in contact with loved ones, share pictures, and play games.
Facebook can be used for many fun things. However, Facebook can turn something that looks like harmless fun into damage that could last a life time. This manual will show you how to avoid the latter.
Rule 1: Do not put mundane things in your status bar. People do not want to know that you just washed your car.
Rule 2: Do not update your status every 5 minutes. People do not want a running account of the day.
-Off to the mall!
-Many I had to run someone over just to find a spot.
-The doctor said he’s gonna make it!
Rule 3: There are a variety of levels of Facebook involvement. Do not be offended if someone does not reply to your posts or pictures, they are probably less involved than you.
Rule 4: Do use your status as a cathartic therapy intervention. Heavy duty emotions should be saved for face to face conversations with your shrink.
Rule 5: Do not write negative comments or opinions about other people. This is called “flaming.” Innocent flaming can turn into full-fledged “flaming wars.”
Rule 6: Should you break rule number 5 either apologize immediately or deactivate your account. Facebook does not welcome your kind.
Rule 7: Do not send “requests” to friends to join any games, causes, or other annoying Facebook application. Chances are that they are aware of it and if they want to play they would have done so by now.
Rule 8: Do not scan old high school pictures and “tag” your friends. Nobody wants to have that on the internet. You may think that only the two of you can see those pictures of the crazy night after the football game, but that is false.
Rule 9: Refrain from using vulgar and obscene language and/or pictures – Nobody wants to see it or hear it.
Rule 10: What you say and do online can affect you in real life. The people on the internet are real and have real feelings. If you do not believe this rule, feel free to test it out by updating your status with “my boss is a fucking asshole”.
Jul 30, 2010 @ 13:18:57
Hi Heather,
What a creative idea! From taking a look at the blogs from our classmates it looks like we all tried to have a little fun with this project. Kind of refreshing, huh?
Your rules clearly point out to avoid that most annoying things about Facebook (or at least what I think is annoying). Maybe you could do more of an explanation of why these are rules you should follow. I love lists, but it doesn’t seem like you’re close enough to the length requirement. But, I know it’s a draft so there could be more coming
I do have one concern about your project. It doesn’t really address the style rules we have covered in class so far. The page on this assignment isn’t explicit about that, so maybe there is some freedom. I think you could keep your Facebook idea but incorporate more grammar and style rules too. Maybe you could show your rule examples as status updates or something. And the parts where you do your explanation could be notes. You could “tag” Strunk or Williams in your note. Though I’m not sure how you could make it look like a Facebook news feed, I’m bad with computer design! I guess I’m not quite sure if this is exactly what Dr. Krause is looking for…it might be best to ask him, I’m not the one giving the grades!
All in all I think this is really a clever idea and if you do some revision to make it geared more towards rules about writing rather than strictly about Facebook, I think this could turn out to be a successful project.
Jul 31, 2010 @ 03:11:19
I did send him an email about the idea on July 25 and didn’t hear otherwise. I can easily add it if necessary, but in looking at the rules it says not to mirror the other types of style manuals and to create our own rules regarding style. There is no mention of referencing our readings in the manual. It only mentions to add some type of an intro and use examples. Did I miss something?
Here are the instructions I found. Are there any other ones floating out there that I missed? *fingers crossed*
# Some introduction that contextualizes the manual. Both Strunk and White and Williams include introductions that explain their goals and purposes, as does the less earnest Elements by the Marquis de Sade. Your manual should also include such an introduction.
# At least five “rules” and rules of some variety. In other words, don’t stick with just rules that look like Strunk and White’s section on “Elementary Rules of Usage” or that look just like Williams’ chapter on “Length.”
# You need to have written examples of the rules. Rules in and of themselves are not enough. Be warned! Writing good examples is harder than you might think.
# At least 100o words of content. This includes the introduction, the rules themselves, examples, and any other supporting documents.
# Some “non-text” elements.
My draft is a few hundred words short, but I do not have my examples yet or the result of breaking each example. I wanted to make sure I was on the right track as I hadn’t heard back from Krause.
Thank you for the feedback.
Jul 31, 2010 @ 16:55:54
Hmm, Dr. Krause has always replied really quickly to my emails. I would try writing him again. I think you could develop this project into something really cool, but make sure he’s on board so you don’t waste your time! I think it is really creative, I guess I thought we had to stay more within the realm of what we had already read. This is a manual for writing on Facebook, so I guess it works
This actually inspires me to change up a bit of my draft, I personally want to stick to rules geared toward “traditional” writing but just felt like I was rehashing Strunk and Williams.
I think once you develop your ideas and provide more detailed examples it will turn out great. I think the introduction could be expanded as well. Do you have any ideas yet for non-text elements?
Jul 31, 2010 @ 00:43:40
Heather,
Where are the five “rules” of grammar/style?
Jul 31, 2010 @ 02:55:04
I have 10 rules regarding style of communication. They are numbered 1-10.
Jul 31, 2010 @ 01:24:04
GREAT idea for a style manual! I was going to do something like a style guide for blogging, but decided against it at last minute. LOVE the rules, I just think you need more evolved examples for them.