Get the following out of your head right now: It is real. Just because the physical body is not involved does not mean:

1. You cannot hurt someone in R/L (real life)

2. You aren't cheating on your lover or spouse, or contributing to the breakup of a marriage or R/L relationship when you mess around.

3. That your culture or religion - although exclusive where you live - is exclusive among people who use the Internet.

4. That you're exempt from common sense rules of social tact.

All of these notions are total BS.

Distressing someone influences the adrenals to send all sorts of signals throughout the body, affecting - among other things - blood sugar levels and the immune system.

Many people are online extensively because they have some sort of incapacitating condition, and have no other access to the outside world.

Ignorance of these people's possible condition in favour of a whim can affect them adversely, or aggravate high blood pressure or heart disease. Trying to blackmail someone into cyber relations when they have had a history of sexual trauma can lead to any of the above or suicide.

So, the next time you get an urge to rebel your lifestyle by taking things out on what looks like just some Times New Roman font on your screen, remember: Behind that nickname is a real person, and every person has a story.

"Be Excellent to Eachother" - Bill & Ted

• Respect a channel operator's requests regarding automatic scripts, wares trading, and colour effects. You don't need to do any of these things to chat. In fact, many view someone who speaks entirely with scripts instead of typing live to be a rather dehumanised soul. Besides, there are THOUSANDS of specialised channels where you can do any of these and more to your heart's content.

Be respectful of channel requests. Someone might not think your special effects are too pretty.

• Unless you're a working operator on the channel you're on, please shut off any action scripts welcoming people or saying good-bye (That last one has to be the lamest concept; it's like a sarcastic kick in the pants in private msg form after you've left. And if they're lagged from you, the message pops up minutes later while you're in chat with someone on another channel). A visitor doesn't need to be flooded by a dozen sentiments coming in. Leave it to the people on duty to extend the honours. Being nice to them is all you need to do. If an operator asks you to disable a script which makes a witticism each time a specific word comes up, just do it.

• Don't ping, version, or finger strangers. These "ctcp" commands ("ctcp" means "client to client protocol") to check personal statistics can be plainly seen by your target. It is largely considered an invasion of privacy. It is okay for a channel operator to check your version upon entering his/her channel to confirm you aren't using attack scripts. Or they may check lag by pinging the channel to see where everyone stands.

Contents © D. DAVID