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Online Writing Etiquette
When it comes to writing online, there are no rules. However, there are some broad conventions that most people who write blogs and journals apply. Here are some of them.
1. Attribute. If you find a link you really like on someone else's site and you want share it with your crowd, go ahead and make that link. Just let people know where you found the link to begin with. Just a quick parenthetical note will suffice: "(link via [name of source here])". And link that source, too. Everybody loves to be linked. Which brings us to:
2. Link! If you're talking about someone else's site, put in a link to that site to let people know first hand what you're writing about. Links are what make blogging and writing online fun the ability to travel from one person's thoughts to another's just like that. So don't be stingy with the linkage. Link early and often. You'll find yourself being linked to in return.
3. Don't lift. When you see an entry you really like from someone else, you might be tempted to cut and paste it onto your own blog. But it's better to take a short quote to whet your readers' appetites and follow that teaser with a link for them to follow. Don't worry about losing your audience they'll be back. But this way you help people discover new voices in their chosen setting.
4. Use the golden rule. Write about others as you would want to be written about: with respect, even (and especially) if you disagree with what they're saying in their own space. This is the case whether you're making an entry based on someone else's earlier entry, or following up with a comment on someone else's journal.
5. Build your own community. Share the journals and blogs you follow with your own readers with your "other journals" list and with links in your own entries. Leave comments and observations on the journals of others. Let them know you're reading and that you like their work. By building your own community, you're helping others build their community as well.
It sounds all painfully huggy-sweet, doesn't it? Well, and maybe it is. But after you've met a bunch of people you really like to read, you won't mind.
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
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Hey John,
what's the proper etiquette for answering someone's question that they ask in a comment? (If the answer is just for the commenter)
Nancy -
sweet
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These journals are as different as the people who write them. They should ride soley on their merit as a reflection of the person who wrote the journal. There is no need to compete for "ratings". If anyone writes for that reason, be off with you.
Relax and have fun. That is what writing is about. Link and be linked. This is not a popularity contest.
Not everyone will like my photos. They aren't there to be liked or disliked, these are my photos. If you enjoy them, great. If not, then you don't.
Great advice, John. I should also do some linking. There are great journals out there.
12/28/07 9:31 PM