Identiquette

Revision as of 11:08, 20 November 2009

Etiquette guidelines for Identi.ca, StatusNet, Status.net and (open-)microblogging in general.

Redenting

Re-dent (RD) in Indenti.ca is comparable to re-tweet (RT) in Twitter.

Avoid duplicates to groups. If the notice includes a group name, prefixed with an exclamation mark:

• always: remove that exclamation mark before re-sending
• optional: replace ! with # to leave a hash tag in place of the group link (example).

Symbols such as ♺ are unrecognisable to some clients. If in doubt:

• use the RD prefix.

If you automatically send notices from Identi.ca to Twitter:

• you may prefer to use the RT prefix (the expression RT may be better understood by the Twitter community)
• optional: replace ! with # to leave a hash tag in place of the group link (rationale).

Replying

If you automatically send notices from Identi.ca to Twitter but prefer to not Send local "@" replies to Twitter:

• keep the @ symbol at the beginning of the reply.

Groups

The bigger the group, the more it is important to think about what you post.

• Before posting always think about how many people you are going to reach and how many people may be interested in you particular dent.
  • Example of a "good" dent: Since this morning !linux is the most used operating system in the world: www.example.com/linux-article
  • Example of a "bad" dent: Just re-installed !linux on my laptop
• If you post in non-English, think about how many people understand your post and how many won't (obviously this does not concern local groups).

Naming and purpose

Avoid names that are contentious.

If the name (or purpose) that you have in mind overlaps with an existing group, contact an administrator of that group before proceeding.

Administering a group

Never forget: With great power comes great responsibility [1]

• Upload a group logo.
• Write a good description:
  • Try to avoid the word group in the group description. It's redundant.
• If appropriate, make use of the alias feature.
  • Example: !soccer should/could be an alias of !football
• Don't be the only admin. You can't be online all the time.
  • Try to get admins from other timezones.

URL shorteners

• If you don't need to use these, resist. Most readers will prefer a transparent URL.
  • I disagree with this. I really don't like long URLs. --Evan 12:59, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Avoid multiple steps. If a short URL leads to something other than an original (examples: http://digg.com/u3GXXf http://www.diigo.com/0852b http://ur1.ca/fya6 http://ow.ly/D1X2) consider that readers may prefer a single step to the original.

See also

• !etiquette group on identi.ca
• Etiquette at Wikipedia
• Netiquette at Wikipedia