The internet has allowed us to share ideas and to build communities with little to no direct interaction with other people. This anonymity can encourage people to conduct themselves in ways they may not normally behave in any other public place. By minding a simple code of online manners, one can take advantage of the web while avoiding sounding rude, or being mis-interpreted. It can also help to protect you from being labeled as an online threat or spammer. By being careful today, you can also avoid embarrassing situations in the future. The following list is a set of guidelines of things to avoid when posting content on blogs, or on social media sites.

1. Avoid the use of exclamation marks (!).

Although exclamation marks can help to translate excitement, they can also make a simple comment sound rude or appear as an order. When used too much, you can dilute the significance of the exclamation mark. I would suggest to use the exclamation mark no more than once per message, or better yet, not at all, specially if your comment is critical of the person’s work.

2. Avoid overly-lengthy blog comments.

People have a tough time getting through an entire lengthy blog post, if you include a lengthy comment, it may never get read. Be clear and to the point. If your comment is longer than the blog post itself, then you should probably just write your own blog post, and link it through a comment. You obviously have a lot to say and it should get the spotlight it deserves.

3. Watch Your Language

Although the internet offers a certain amount of anonymity, you shouldn’t feel free to use language you wouldn’t use in any public place. Not only is it unprofessional to curse, but remember that a lot of the content you place online is eventually archived, and once it’s up, it has the potential of being there forever. Employers are also becoming very savvy when it comes to social media, and you may want to avoid them ever stumbling upon the rant you posted about your problems at work.

4. Don’t Spam!

Comment spamming is one of the most annoying things for a blogger to deal with. Search engines and blogging software companies know this, and in an attempt to help authors deal with it, they have made it very easy for an author to add spammers on their spam lists. Heaven forbid you end up on one of those lists because they can kill your website’s rankings and it can be very difficult to get yourself removed. If you want to take advantage of posting a link to your site on someone else’s blog, be sure you only post relevant links in appropriate blogs. If you are reading a blog about baseball, and post a link to a site about website optimization, you will likely be denied and your chances of being labeled as spam will greatly increase.

Online manners matter today more than ever despite the faceless nature of the internet. Let us not forget them or we may pay a price for inappropriate behavior. The internet afterall is a public place and we should conduct ourselves as we would in any other public arena. In order to avoid embarrassing situations coming back to haunt us, it is best to adhere to a professional code of conduct.