Latest in online etiquette

Emails and online correspondence are great mediums for liars. Namely, they don't have to see the person that they are lying to. Body language doesn't play a factor, and no one can notice the slight quiver in their voice. They can say whatever they want while appearing as confident as someone who is telling the truth. In short, you don't have to be a good liar to tell a convincing lie on the Internet.
Keep Reading »

The Internet has brought together cultures and nationalities that had previously never really interacted very much. The openness has also fanned perceptions and prejudices on all sides. The following are some of those notions that I realized people from other countries believe about Americans, and how Americans sometimes feed those beliefs through their online behavior.
Keep Reading »

Whether you’re an organization, blogger, video producer, or just someone with something to say, you probably have a Twitter account. However, there are right ways and wrong ways to use Twitter. The wrong way is sending out tweets to all your latest content on autopilot, ignoring questions from your followers, and spamming them. Twitter is a social media site, and your presence on Twitter should be real, human, and interesting.
Keep Reading »

The Web has opened up lines of communication that were previously closed for the vast majority of the world. Anyone with an Internet connection can now head online and talk to someone on the other side of the world using any one of a range of different services. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are the obvious options. There is unfortunately a tendency to abuse these new lines of communication.
Keep Reading »

It's incredibly frustrating to check your email inbox only to find a completely hateful message. Why in the world do people act like this? With that said, you should learn how to defend yourself while on the web. Let me tell you this though: being a jerk isn't a way to do it. To my credit, I've gotten a few hateful emails in my lifetime. In fact, I've sent a few as well! (That makes me an expert on this, right?)
Keep Reading »

Have you ever called customer service, only to end the call frustrated, disappointed and without resolution? Or perhaps there was a resolution, but it was unfavorable and certainly not worth the time you spent on the phone? We’ve actually covered in detail how good the customer service is by some of the major tech companies, like Apple, Amazon and others. But have you ever considered that there are things in your power that you can do to change the outcome of these calls?
Keep Reading »

We have covered trolls extensively here on MakeUseOf, with a three-part toolkit designed to help you deal with these online ne'er-do-wells the best starting place. However, trolls don't limit their presence merely to forums, comments sections, and social networks; a particular breed can be found playing video games online. This breed are known as griefers, and they get their kicks from setting out to intentionally wind other players up.
Keep Reading »

There used to be a time when an employer would laugh at you if you were an avid social media user. Nowadays, employers will think you’re a weirdo if you don’t use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or anything along those lines. And most dangerous part of social media? You’re giving everyone a glimpse into a slice of your life. Let’s talk specifically about Twitter.
Keep Reading »

Emails are tough. It is really hard to get across what you really want to say in an email, and half the time people will almost always misunderstand you. A lot of the problem comes down to the fact that the people you're writing to can't see your face. They can't see the smile on your face, and you can't see the expression on their face - the natural human ability to understand the emotion in words through facial expression is completely void in an email.
Keep Reading »

The Internet is an interesting creature. I know I'm dating myself here, but sometimes I'm thankful that I had the opportunity during my life to personally experience the birth and growth of the Internet. Then, there are times when I wonder whether the evolution of that Internet is headed in the right direction today. Why do I feel that way? It comes down to the nature of discourses on the web.
Keep Reading »

Internet etiquette can be a touchy subject, and although I don't consider myself the Miss Manners of the world wide web, I try my best to be courteous with how I act online. Granted, I'm not perfect, and I typically get as much satisfaction as the next guy when someone is proved wrong in online debate. However, one of the big obstacles of Internet etiquette people sometimes struggle with online is sending email.
Keep Reading »

Have you ever wanted to drive everyone crazy on your social networks? For a long time this has been a goal of mine that I have aspired for. It takes a lot of hard work, persistence and dedication, but the result is very worth it. That result is causing resentment among all your online contacts on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.
Keep Reading »

We all make mistakes from time to time. It's natural, a part of life, a learning curve which we use to better ourselves. Typos are no exception. They happen often, and if writing forms a big part of your life, whether for your job or for sheer entertainment, typos can be a tiresome subject matter that can get you down when they're pointed out to you. Repeatedly.
Keep Reading »

Welcome to the third and final and article in this 3-post series. We’ve been looking at a number of different logical fallacies that Internet trolls sometimes use when trying to bully you into losing a debate, showing you how to win arguments in style (or at least raise their level). If you haven’t read the [...]
Keep Reading »

Welcome back to the 2nd article in this 3-post series all about defeating Internet trolls in Internet arguments. By using this toolkit, you’ll learn to detect when someone is trying to fool you with porous logic. In Part 2, I’ll be showing you a number of logical fallacies that are based on emotions or intuition - arguments that may seem airtight on the surface but, in actuality, are unreasonable and unsound.
Keep Reading »