Online Forums, aka Bulletin Board Systems or “BBSes” (a holdover from the pre-internet dark ages), are a great way to communicate with others with a common interest, and increase one’s knowledge of that interest through the sharing of experiences.

Most forums use a similar format, so they’re easy to navigate once you’re familiar with any one of the many software packages available.

Online forums– and those who frequent them– are as diverse as the subjects to which they are devoted. Some subjects lend themselves to very supportive, tight-knit communities. Others engender spirited, if not sometimes highly-opinionated debate. As polite and friendly as one forum may be, another may be infested with all manner of rude behavior.

A basic understanding of online forum etiquette can allow lurker and participant alike to recognize inappropriate behavior, and to hopefully avoid it themselves.

Some useful definitions:

Lurking – Reading online forums only without participating in the discussions.

Post – To start or reply to a topic or “thread” in a forum is to post (v.) or create a post (n.). A throwback term from the BBS days.

Thread – n. – An original post, usually asking a question, or posing a topic of discussion, followed by a series of replies, which hopefully stick to the topic of the OP.

OP – n. – Abbreviation of “Original Post” often used to refer directly to it.

Cold, Hot – A cold thread is one wherein discussion has come to an end for whatever reason– resolution of a question or problem, or just lack of interest. A hot thread is an active one with many replies, and most forum software denotes active discussions with a “hot topic” marker.

Moderator – The owner or administrator of a forum typically acts as a “moderator”, monitoring the forum for inappropriate behavior and editing, deleting, or moving posts as necessary. With large or very active forums, the administrator may appoint one or more members as moderators.

Profile – A part of your forum user account where you may list information about yourself visible to other forum members. Sometimes useful, sometimes encourages unwelcome contact.

PM – Abbreviation for Private Message. Most forums offer the capability for users to privately message one another. Use of PMs are encouraged when one user has a question specifically for another user that would not necessarily be of interest to the general community. For example, if you see in another user’s profile that they are a fan of a particular sports team, it is considered inappropriate to engage them in conversation about it in a forum thread– unless the subject is “What’s your favorite team?” of course. Use a PM instead.

Recently Active Topics – Many forums have this or a similar feature where you can view a list of only the most recently or currently active threads– useful for frequent forum visitors, because they don’t have to sort through inactive topics. Some simpler forums have only a “last ten posts” list.

Sticky Topics – Threads, usually posted by the administrator or moderator which stay “stuck” at the top of the forum, in order that they always remain visible. “Stickies” usually contain information for new forum visitors, including Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), or guidelines to be followed.

Forum Faux Pas:

Thread Mining – Term having both positive and negative connotations, depending on the context in which it is used. For example, doing a search of previous forum posts in order to help with a question posed in a new topic, one might go “thread mining” to find the answer. Alternately, posting a reply in a cold thread when the last post is several months old is also referred to as thread mining.

Thread Crap(ping) – Thread crapping occurs when a person comes into a thread and posts something contrary to the spirit/intent of the thread, often derailing the discussion or turning it into an argument. For example, coming into a thread titled “I love my new Apple Macintosh!”, and posting “PCs are better and cheaper” is a thread crap.

Thread Hijack(ing) – The inappropriate practice of changing the topic of a thread by posting new questions unrelated to the OP in your reply.

Forum Spamming – Many online forums have member rankings based upon the number of posts a user has made, these rankings having associated titles like “Newbie”, “Fan”, “Pro”, “All Star”. Some people feel that the purpose of participating in online forums is therefore a matter of quantity over quality. Posting with the intent of increasing one’s post count is referred to as “forum spamming”. Other examples include replying to one’s own posts (rather than editing a post to clarify, amplify, or make a correction), and “chiming in”. Sometimes also derogatorily referred to as “post whoring”.

Chiming In – A reply to a thread which makes little or no contribution to the discussion (see Forum Spamming). For example, replying to the question “Does anyone here own an Apple computer?” with “Not me”, or “I do”.

Trolling – Posting an outrageous message to bait people to answer. Trolling is a form of harassment that can take over a discussion. Well meaning defenders can create chaos by responding to trolls. The best response is to ignore it, or to report such a message to a forum moderator.

Flame(s)(ing) – Insulting another user’s post, opinions, subject, grammar, or pretty much anything else, in an attempt to pick an online fight is considered “flaming”.

Cross-Posting – Posting multiple identical posts in different topics or sub-forums in the same online forum is considered inappropriate.

OT – Abbreviation for “Off Topic”. Used to notify readers that the post contains discussion not directly pertaining to the subject matter of the thread or forum. Going “Off Topic” is typically frowned upon, and forum owners often create an Off Topic sub-forum for such discussions.

ALL CAPS – Typing in all caps is the internet equivalent of SHOUTING, and, besides making the writer appear ignorant, is also just plain hard to read.

Bumping – The practice of creating a post solely for the purpose of getting a cold or dead thread– usually one created by the bumper– back on the “recent active topics” list.

Also Annoying:

• Posting in the wrong sub-forum, e.g. starting a thread about Apple computers in an IBM PC forum.
• Using lots of !!!!!!!!!!!! or ????????? in a thread subject line.
• Using URGENT!, IMPORTANT!, or HELP! in a thread subject line. Many new users to an online forum think that online forums exist as free, on-demand tech support rather than the online communities that they are. Most forums keep a great deal of past discussion threads online for reference. A simple use of the search function included on nearly every forum can get answers to questions more quickly than can starting a new thread on a subject that has been most likely previously discussed in depth.
• IM-Speak. Abbreviating “you”, “your”, “to”, “are”, “and”, “for”, and other monosyllabic words with letters like “u”, “ur”, “2”, “r”, “n”, “4” is an acceptable device for Instant Messaging, but not forum posts. It might fly in the online computer games forum, but if you notice that you’re the only one doing it, know that it just makes you look immature.
• Replying without reading the entire thread. Sometimes replies are made to the OP without checking to see if a previous reply to it hasn’t already said essentially the same thing.
• Playing “welcome wagon”. The practice of replying to the posts of new users with “welcomes” mostly to just raise your post count.
• Large colored fonts. Yes, most forums allow them. Yes, they are annoying.
• Really loooong links. Most forums allow links to other webpages to be included in messages. Problem is, a long link screws up the formatting of every other post in the thread, and forces the reader to scroll left and right in order to read any message in the thread. Make use of the forum software’s ability to display a short amount of text in lieu of a link that’s longer than a browser window’s typical width.
• Quoting entire posts. Quoting is a very useful forum tool, helping to keep replies in context over the course of a long thread, and especially so when you are not replying to the most recent post in a thread. But it’s best to quote only the most relevant part of the post to which you are replying, particularly when the post being replied to is long.

It’s a Good Thing:

• Reading any new forum you are interested in for a period of time before making your first posts. In this way you are able to get a feel for the generally accepted tone and standard of behavior of a particular online community. When in Rome…
• Using the Search function, if the forum has one, to try to find answers to your questions before starting a new thread. If the forum has been established any reasonable amount of time at all, it’s likely that most basic topics relating to the forum’s subject matter have been discussed several times already.
• Reading the Stickies before posting in any forum– it will save your and everyone else’s time.
• Resisting the urge to believe that you are the wittiest person ever to grace the World Wide Web, and that no thread would be complete without at least some input from you.
• Knowing the difference between discussion and chat, and which is appropriate where.
• Watching your language. The internet is an open place. Children may be present.
• Appropriately-sized pictures. If the forum you participate in allows for the posting of photos, keep the size reasonable and the filesize as small as possible. Be considerate of the dial-up user, who may have to wait minutes for your inline photo to download, and post a link to it instead. Large inline photos, like long links, also screw up the formatting of all the other posts in the thread, making reading very difficult.

Follow these simple guidelines and you should be a welcome participant in any forum you choose.