Working more and more online in a distributed company, we have to share some wellbeing rules of how we use online tools that don't seem intuitive to everyone. And I've never seen a written list of a lot of this culture shared by a lot of people I can meet online.
Since DEV is an awesome community, what about trying to build it!
Here are some rules that seem intuitive to me and that I try to follow (do you agree?) :
- Make sentences
- IF YOU WRITE WITH CAPITAL LETTERS YOU ARE SHOUTING
- No custom funny font, No custom funny color, No custom funny background
- Mention people only if they absolutely need to react (@here or Reply to All are the evil)
- Put a profile picture and a bio
- When you post on a chat (Slack), if you have an answer some seconds after your post, you are in a discussion so at least say "Sorry, I can't stay" if you were just posting something and leaving.
- When you leave a discussion on a chat, say it, don't disappear while everyone is waiting for your answer
- Embrace asynchronicity : When you post a blog post or message in a forum, don't DM or call everyone to ask if they've already read it, just wait.
- Don't edit a post without notifying people
- Links are fantatic, share a link instead of a description of how to find the information on a website
Do you agree with these? What are the online behaviors you follow and expect?
Top comments (4)
I have one simple rule: Be honest. Don't hide behind a curtain of fluffy phrases. The world is not a "safe space" and not being direct won't help anyone. Sadly, we live in a society which slowly loses its mind.
Other than that:
At least, don't edit a post after someone replied.
I'm cool with editing after so long as you're honest about what changed.
to
That way it still makes sense if the comments are like "Wtf, I thought you hated Java?"
Ha, yes. "I love Java" would embarrass everyone!
This is a great topic. Most important - imho - is that all chat is done with respect. Also, remember that the discussion is a connection to "real" people -don't use words that would hurt or embarrass someone else.