Poll: Be Nice on the Internet, Pretty Please

This week has been named Be Nice on The Internet Week by Real Simple magazine.

The magazine made the declaration after doing a survey about social media behavior for its annual January “be a better person” issue. The magazine’s editors pledged to look into the psychological impact of Net negativity and they asked readers to “think before you post.”

At Patch, a wholly online publication, we’re quite familiar with bad behavior in comments. We revere our readers’ thoughtful contributions, of course, but part of our job is also monitoring those who might get out of hand.

Anonymity seems to make people more willing to reveal their mean sides.

A big part of our mission here is providing the community with a platform for discussion and ideas, and our readers seem to like it.

Patch’s terms of use, which every reader agrees to when registering, say: “Communities thrive when people care about each other, and as such, Patch expects all of its users to be respectful of others. … While we encourage people to be honest and post what’s on their mind, there are some types of Content that we simply can’t allow on Patch. … You might boil it down to three main policies: “Keep it clean,” “Don’t try to trick people,” and “Treat others as you’d like to be treated.” Easy, right?”

Sometimes it’s not so easy, apparently.

How you think of what you say online might help. Connecticut Patch editor Elissa Bass offers a list of four questions to ask yourself before posting online:

• Would I say it in front of my mother?
• Would I say it in front of my kids?
• Would I want someone to say it to my face?
• Will I be sorry later?

Are you always nice on the internet? What do you think about those who aren’t? Respond to our poll or answer in comments.