There are relatively few formal rules for those who run traditional Web sites or social media sites. As frequently claimed, the Internet has no real rules. Free speech rules — along with common sense.
But, there are many unwritten or unspoken rules for those of us on the Internet to follow if we want to be good citizens of the Web world.
Corey Eridon, writing for HubSpot, cites a number of unspoken rules to guide our online behavior. Here are some of them:
- “If you’re citing someone else’s data or a quote from their content, give ’em a link.”
- “Don’t copy and paste content from someone else’s site, unless you’re deliberately and obviously featuring their content with proper attribution.”
- “Don’t promote your business in the comments section of blogs. You lose all credibility, and it’s a lame sales tactic.”
- “Be transparent about your business affiliations.”
- “Don’t Facebook friend business connections.”
- “Don’t connect with someone on LinkedIn unless you’ve had some type of contact in the past.”
- “Make unsubscribe links ridiculously easy for people to find.”
