Thou shalt not flame - Forum Etiquette

Thou shalt not flame, harass, denigrate, spam, or malign -- Forum Etiquette! Have you been following along with the latest Topicability blog posts -- and then being sure to read ALL the comments.

When I was tackling the broad and worthy subject of Twitter Etiquette, I eluded to the fact that I would soon be tackling Forum Etiquette. Well, here I am sitting here working on this blog post a bit early. Why? Well, it is thanks to a fellow lensmaster Deb aka flowergardener. We got to know each other quite a while ago, but as life is -- we each have been very busy with the daily stresses and many sequence of events which take us away from the daily civility of conversations. But, that is not meant to indicate that we do NOT care what the other individual might be up to -- or what challenges they face -- we know that we all have to come to grip with life!

So, what was I saying about etiquette? Oh, I wanted to next talk about the rules of forum etiquette. At the moment, I will contain this etiquette lesson strictly to the Squidoo, Squidu Forum, as I am not yet active, on a daily basis, in other forums like maybe that Zazzle Forum. But, I'm sure I will be making my way there soon. So, as etiquette goes, forum etiquette should be universal in concept.

Today's topic gets a kick-start from flowergardener Deb in that she took time away from her busy morning to post quite a meaningful post in the Squidu Forum.

"I just looked up the stuff that was in our TOS: flame, harass, denigrate, spam, and malign. Here they are, pulled from google definition searches."

flame:
An Internet user typically generates a flame response to other posts or users posting on a site, and such a response is usually not constructive, does not clarify a discussion, and does not persuade others. Sometimes, flamers attempt to assert their authority, or establish a position of superiority over other users. Other times, a flamer is simply an individual who believes he or she carries the only valid opinion. This leads him or her to personally attack those who disagree. In some cases, flamers wish to upset and offend other members of the forum, in which case they can be called "trolls". Most often however, flamers are angry or insulting messages transmitted by people who have strong feelings about a subject.

harass:
To irritate or torment persistently. To wear out; exhaust. To impede and exhaust (an enemy) by repeated attacks or raids.

denigrate:
To speak damagingly of; criticize in a derogatory manner; sully; defame.
To denigrate someone's character.
To treat or represent as lacking in value or importance; belittle; disparage: to denigrate someone's contributions to a project.
To make black; blacken: rain clouds denigrating the sky.

spam:
we all should know what this is

malign:
To say unpleasant things about (someone or something), especially without reason.
To speak unfavorably about, traduce; drag through the mud.

Thank you flowergardener for taking time to look all these up. Yes, forum posters! Do you understand that thou shalt not flame, harass, denigrate, spam, or malign other forum posters? Heck, this is something that is a principle of social interactions. It applies elsewhere online AND in life.

So, let's think about this for a moment shall we? In our recent dealings online, can you say that you have observed these "not to do" principles? Can YOU?