It's simple, just don't be a jerk

I generally am not a fan of ‘how to’ guides as they relate to technology.  Generally speaking, they are valid for about 10 minutes and then you find them in the clearance bin at the bookstore.  You know you’ve seen them, ‘How to win friends and influence people through Facebook’, ‘Tweet Your Way Thin’, and it’s sequel, ‘Tweet Your Way Rich’, and of course the ever popular religious version, ‘The Gospel According to YouTube.’  So it was with some skepticism that I approach ‘Net Smart’ by Howard Rheingold. 

However, I was very excited to see that he primarily viewed online interactions from a more systems level perspective and looked at how relationships in a virtual world develop, are nurtured and how those relationships can be leveraged to allow for greater learning by all in this world.  Rheingold looks at the growth of the online environment and discusses how a person can viably exist and participate in the digital world.

Rheingold’s lessons are such that they will hold true regardless of whether we are using Facebook, a search engine or something yet to be invented.  One way in which he does this is through a suggestion that all online users need to become better at ‘Crap Detection’.  Essentially, he is acknowledging a need for users to take responsibility for what kind of content we are consuming and producing (or passing along).   I vividly recall the mass e-mails that would be sent around in the early days of college e-mail before the days of Snopes.com and before the network administrators locked down people’s abilities to e-mail all users with the click of a button.  And then of course there were the inevitable replies…

But I digress, had we been able to employee better crap detection, we would have realized that no, the General Mills logo is not a subtle indication that the company is run by Satanists, along with a variety of other tidbits that were completely untrue!  But crap detection helps us sort through the deluge of information.  It help us recognize that if we are reading an article on thinkprogress.com, it’s likely to have a liberal bent to it.  There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just good to know the bias that is being presented.  In the same vein, we know that articles and editorials at the New Republic will come to us with a more conservative slant.  With some basic knowledge, we can begin to look at information that other people are passing along and we may begin to trust what they pass along, or we decide that they are not a source that provides credible information. 

In addition to developing a good sense for what is credible, Rheingold’s rules for existing in the online environment basically say that our interests and actions should be other focused.  We should pass along information to our online friends if we think something we come across will interest them.  We should not be harsh and overly negative in comments, but should be respectful of others opinions .  Rheingold effectively encourages us not to be a jerk in our interactions and to be attentive to our interactions online.  I think it becomes another social network for us, not an alternative to a real life network of people or a replacement for a real life network, but an alternative.

Is it that easy?  Is being successful online largely a matter of being honest, cutting through the crap to find the diamonds, and not being a jerk to others?  If so, why do we find so many internet ‘tough guys’ who use the relative anonymity of the internet to do the exact opposite?  Can we stop that?  Should we or is it a part of having some sense of freedom of speech?