Online Discussion Boards (Assignment #3)

1. How are many of the guidelines similar to how we expect other people to act if they were face to face? Explain
The majority of the guidelines are similar to how we expect others to act when speaking face to face because many of them are regarding how you should respond politely to comments online. For example, saying "please" and "thank you" is important when asking questions in person and also online!

2. Cite at least four guidelines that you feel are extremely helpful and necessary when interacting with other in an online discussion. Explain your choices.
The four guidelines that I feel are extremely helpful and necessary when interacting with others in online discussions are: 

 

1. "Run a spelling and grammar check before posting anything to the discussion board". I feel that this guideline for proper etiquette for the internet is extremely important because a lot of people are in a rush to argue their opinion on a public discussion board and sometime they forget to check if they have made a fool of themselves or not! The incorrect spelling of a word or incorrect grammar can lose an argument in many cases, especially if the comment you've posted is public. To prevent this, I believe that taking an extra minute before sharing your opinion in an argument is worth it. 
2. "Always remember to say "Please" and "Thank you" when soliciting help". I feel that this guideline is very important when commenting on a public discussion board because it makes a difference in the kind of person that you appear to be and it's also just polite to do in general. This is definitely an important rule to remember while commenting online, or even looking for any sort of help online because it's the same has having proper manners in real life. 
3. "Don't write anything that sounds angry or sarcastic, even as a joke". I feel that this guideline is one of the most important ones on this list because in many cases, people will make jokes using complete sarcasm and it may make them come off as a horrible person, and they may even be quoted on that statement/opinion in the future! It's not the smartest idea, so to prevent this, it's safest to ignore the topic and leave the discussion as it is and not post a sarcastic comment with no purpose, but if you feel that it's needed, read over the comment before posting it to see if you're comment comes off as serious or sarcastic. 
4. "Don't badmouth others or call them stupid". I feel that this guideline is important to remember when using any type of messaging program on the internet because cyberbullying is becoming more and more of an issue and although people are doing what they can to help prevent it, there's a high chance that it will never not exist. So, to prevent a major issue from happening, it's smarter to keep quiet about certain thoughts and opinions you may have that could offend someone or hurt their feelings in any way. 

3. Have you ever made comments on an online discussion board? If so, was it a positive or negative experience? Discuss.
Yes, I have made comments on an online discussion board before and it was a pretty positive experience for me! I often ask questions on public discussion boards because I find that it's very simple to get multiple responses quickly and it's usually more simple than writing out an entire email to someone who may not answer for a few days.

4. Do you think you would enjoy a course where you could discuss issues online with other students? Explain why or why not.
Yes, I think that I would enjoy a course where I could discuss issues online with other students because it would be quite interesting to see certain opinions on certain topics and discussing different topics from different points of view.