General principles of internet communication

[sqbr]

I've been thinking for some time about writing a post about the various techniques I've used to get around the difficulty of communicating with people on the internet when you're tactless.

But I've realised that before I can post that I need to lay out the necessary basic principles which I think underlie successful communication on the internet so that I can refer back to them.

I'm probably going to go back and add to this post as I go, but for the moment here are the principles that have come up, with links to clarifying posts where I felt they were necessary.

A lot of these are going to seem really self evident, but perhaps due to my background in pure mathematics I like having the principles I'm working from made explicit.

Basic Principles:

• Other people's feeling are as important as your own
  
• It is possible for rational, intelligent, well-informed people to have different opinions
  
• Freedom of speech does not actually mean saying whatever you like whenever you like
  
• Pay attention to what is being said, by you and others, and be aware of the different ways it could be interpreted
  

Sub-principles

• Other people's feelings are important
  
• The fact that you think someone is wrong doesn't mean it's ok to treat them like crap
  
• Stay on topic
  
• Be careful what you leave unsaid
  
• Actually read what people have said
  

I am, as always, totally up for people pointing out any flaws or inconsistencies or expressing a different opinion.