Internet Etiquette

When you create your own blog or website, building an audience can be tricky. You want to establish relationships without seeming pushy or overeager. We've narrowed down three main steps to consider when working to gain online readers: comments, social media interactions, and advertising opportunities. If you hope to boost your web presence, then follow these dos and don'ts of Internet networking.

Comments

• Do identify other websites that you admire, and become an active follower of them. Comment regularly and interact with the author to let them know that you appreciate the content.
• Don't comment on other blogs and ask the writers to follow your site too. It's a bold move that can come off in a negative way. Chances are, if you leave nice comments, they're likely to click on your username anyway.

Keep reading for tips on how to use social media and advertising when getting your blog off the ground.

Let's talk Facebook etiquette. I asked last week how long you waited to Facebook friend a love interest, but your answers revealed less about dating, and more about how and when you friend everyone and anyone and no one.

While I'm sure there's more, five types of Facebook frienders revealed themselves.

• No time like the second drink: "Went on a first date last night, we added each other midway through second drinks." — Anonymous
• You're nothing more than a link in my Facebook chain: "When I first meet someone (co-worker, date, friend of a friend who might become a friend of mine), I request to add them. I have plenty of Facebook friends who I don't call or text, and don't see Facebook as more personal than a phone number." — Girl Jen
• Facebook is for lurkers: "Chances are people facebook you as soon as they know your last name anyway, so unless your profile is completely private, you might as well just add them." — MissSushi
• The two-day rule: "I usually wait a day or two, unless they add me first." — Mellietronx
• Wait until marriage: "I say wait as long as you can. There's nothing more awkward than having to unfriend someone." — Angelica Marden

Which one are you?

Facebook is such an etiquette minefield. From TMI on couples' walls to passive-aggressive congratulations to de-friending people, it's creating a whole new way to offend people.

My faux-pas radar went off when I saw a friend announce the birth of her sister's child on Facebook. Maybe it was a moment of overzealousness, I justified, but an hour later she came back to tell us the name. For all I know she had permission to make the announcements, but this — while the most overt — is hardly the first Facebook spoiler I've seen.

The backdoor spoilers are probably the most popular. Congratulations when there's no announcement or pictures of the bride before she walks down the aisle. It may be innocent enough, but I think it's time to talk about an unspoken rule: don't talk about it online until I do.

Monday we heard people on Facebook were actually honest, and yesterday a trend piece in the New York Observer says the Internet has lost its negativity to niceness. But is cynicism really dead?

It died a little with Barack Obama's campaign and again with his election. We heard it when Conan O'Brien signed off for the last time, saying "Please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism — it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere." And last December in the "The Warm-Fuzzy Web," a New York magazine article that said pretty much the same thing as today's Observer piece.

"That very cynical voice worked really well from 2003 to 2006," publicist Lauren Cerand said, but "really negative people, they don't have a lot of friends." And by "friend" she means people to promote their content with "likes" and "loves" and "retweets." Why be mean with words when you can be nice with clicks? So, really, the Internet hasn't gotten nicer; it's gotten savvier. Find out why after the jump