Treat Others Online Like You Would Treat Them In Person

Behavior that is offensive or anti-social in real life is no less so online. Some people either forget that online, because they cannot see the immediate reactions of the people around them, or they don't care because they have a cloak of anonymity.

Things to remember not to do include: don't insult people, don't kiss strangers, don't follow people around uninvited, don't treat people violently, don't steal, don't eavesdrop. These things may seem like basic common sense, but it's amazing how many people forget this common sense online.

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Respect Others' Gender, Ethnicity, Age, and Religion

Shambala is a safe and friendly environment for everyone. Everyone is invited regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age, gender preference, disability, or religious beliefs. To keep Shambala safe and friendly for everyone, you should be tolerant of everyone, and not insult and slur them based on their identity.

That doesn't prevent you from having civil conversations with others on issues relating to gender, race, etc., and that doesn't mean you have to be politically correct in your views. It's quite possible to have intelligent, civil conversations about affirmative action, feminism, and Tinky Winky without resorting to insult and slur.

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Don't Bother Someone Who Doesn't Want to Talk to You

Being nice and polite to everyone doesn't mean you have to like everyone, and it doesn't mean everyone has to like you. Just like some people don't have compatible personalities in real life, some people don't have compatible personalities online. That's fine.

If someone doesn't want to talk to you for whatever reason, respect that. Sometimes a person online gets upset when someone else doesn't want to talk to him or her, and hound the person to provide reasons why, or to tell the person that he or she is being unfair. But someone else's reasons for wanting and not wanting to talk to you are personal, subjective, and not really debatable. If someone doesn't want to talk to you, respect that and don't worry about it. As long as you're friendly and follow etiquette, there are going to be plenty of other people who do want to talk to you!

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Watch Your Temper

When someone is annoying or upsetting to us online, there is a great urge to let that person know just how upsetting or annoying he or she is with a few harsh words. Avoid that temptation.

Take a moment to consider that the person isn't annoying you or upsetting you on purpose. Is someone asking you a question that you think is too personal from a stranger? Just tell that stranger you'd prefer not to answer. Getting some unwanted flirtation from someone? Start by politely saying you're not interested. Is a new person making all kinds of violations of etiquette? Why not point that person to this web site to read about etiquette. Someone who is new to MUSHes has no way of knowing etiquette until informed.

As it turns out, most people who at first seem to be annoying you don't intend to be annoying you. And if you let them know what you like and don't like, most people are happy to respect your preferences. Many annoying newbies have been turned into nice, cool, interesting people with just a little direction and patience.

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Don't Create Spam

Spam is a term used to refer to needless text that fills up someone's computer screen. It's annoying to lose track of your conversation because someone is sending you a lot of text that you don't want. Keep that in mind and don't create a lot of text for someone all at once.

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Spoof is a MUSH word meaning to fool others into thinking that someone said or did something that he or she did not. It isn't difficult to accomplish if you know your MUSH commands. Don't do it.

If you think someone is spoofing, you can avoid being fooled by setting yourself with the NO_SPOOF flag. You will then see the origin of every text message you get. To set the NO_SPOOF flag, when you're in the MUSH, type:

@set me=no_spoof

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Don't Spy on Private Conversations

It isn't easy to spy on someone else's private conversation, but possible. Don't do it.

If you think that someone might be spying on you, there is a way to detect everything in your current room that can hear things, whether it shows up in the room's contents or not. To do that, type:

@sweep

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Don't Shout

Shouting online is when you say SOMETHING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. It's annoying, because it's very distracting in an ongoing conversation.

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