This is my own personal manifesto, mostly for behavior on the Internet, but also for my life away from a screen. As of right now, this a very early draft of rules I’ll try my best to live by and reflect on now and again to see how much of this manifesto I’ve actually abided by.

Keep in mind that this is currently a first draft of my personal manifesto and will change accordingly in the future.

Information Evaluation

When evaluating information that I have found online, I will ask myself the following questions [1]:

Source: Virtual Library

1. Currency: How up to date is the information?
2. Relevance: Does it suit my purpose?
3. Accuracy:
   1. Is the information fact or opinion?
   2. Are there any references available?
4. Author:
   1. Is the author an expert in his or her field?
   2. Is the author biased?
5. Purpose: Why did the author post this information? Is it to inform people? Persuade them one way or another? Is it to sell a product or service?

When evaluating information, I will also make sure I have varied sources so that I have a fuller picture of what I’m looking for.

Communication

Source: Pixabay

When communicating with others online, I will be sure to respect the other participants of the conversation. If they’re rude, however, my first course of action is to chew them out for their behavior depending on how bad their behavior is. If no progress is made in chewing them out, don’t be afraid to report the user as you see fit or block them entirely.

When sharing opinions with others online, make sure that your opinion is as well-informed as possible. Always try to keep the conversation civilized and respect the other side’s opinion. The point of sharing opinions is to decide which ideas work and which don’t. Opinions are meant to be shared in order to discard the ideas that are objectively worse.

Etiquette

Source: Boise State University

On blogs such as this one and other social media sites, don’t be afraid to delete comments or report or block users as you see fit, whether it’s because something they said or did is offensive, they’re just getting on your nerves, or because they’re saying or doing something that puts me or someone else at a disadvantage.

Keep in mind that there will always be someone out there just looking to either troll you or spite you. Whenever such a person arises, make light of the situation for minor trolls and just block the more persistent trolls. By making light of the situation, you both “acknowledge and diffuse the situation”, while blocking trolls and their comments works well especially if you host your own site [2].

Works Cited

1. C. Costello, “Evaluating Sources,” Weebly, [Online]. Available: https://www.virtuallibrary.info/evaluating-sources.html. [Accessed 9 Apr 2018].
2. J. Rampton, “10 Tips to Dealing With Trolls,” Forbes Media LLC, 9 Apr 2015. [Online]. Availabe: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2015/04/09/10-tips-to-dealing-with-trolls/#6d5e272a54f4. [Accessed 9 Apr 2018].