Rules that rule the virtual world

They say rules and promises are made to be broken. Breaking rules is dangerous unless you know them well enough to escape the consequences. Breaking rules in the virtual world may ban your access to sites. No one is immune from getting banned. Most of us use Internet and read the terms of conditions (TOC) and privacy policies of sites before signing up for them but hardly a few people really know the rules that rule the virtual world. Here are a few must-know rules for online users to immunise themselves from bans.

A few days ago, Facebook users were directed to a page where they were asked not to send friends requests to people they don’t know personally.  Such requests will be considered spam and their accounts will be blocked. The site asked users to cancel all pending friend requests.

It was an effort from the social networking site to control unwanted and annoying activities on the site.  According to information available on the website, Facebook took the step after receiving complaints from many users who said that many a time people create accounts and send friends requests to unknown people. This practice is increasingly becoming an online nuisance.

The site does not allow any one below 13 years age to sign up. Not only Facebook, there are many sites including the newly-launched Google Plus that does not allow people to register pseudonyms. Recently the site deleted hundreds of such users.

Twitter has its own way of deciding the authenticity of users through its verified account service. The verified twitter account badge is given to avoid confusion with personalities’ accounts with the same name. Many celebrities have been given the badge and it appears on the right side of their twitter pages.  LinkedIn does not allow you to impersonate others or misrepresent your identity and if you are caught your account is blocked.

Fake accounts are not the only thing that is considered offensive in the online world. Many sites delete comments, posts and other digital content if and when they find it necessary or receive complaints from other users. It is advisable not to upload content that is offensive to religious groups or obscene in nature.

Terms of condition on the micro-blogging website Twitter reads, “Everyone has different levels of sensitivity towards content. What may be shocking to one may be fine or acceptable to another. Twitter does not pre-screen content and we do not remove potentially offensive content.” But the site administrators act on complaints filed by users.

Users can be banned if they bully others online. Many accounts on social networking websites were deleted in which users made fake profiles of personalities and uploaded morphed pictures taht were objectionable.  Sometimes college and school friends make fake profiles of their teachers and upload objectionable pictures. Many students involved in such practices have been arrested under the Information Technology Act.

Users can face a ban if they spread viruses or malware on Internet. Sometimes users get trapped in a situation in which their friends post objectionable content on their pages and it spreads virally even if users try to remove it from their page. The best option in such cases is to avoid clicking on such links.

Websites dealing with money transaction such as Google AdSense block the accounts of persons who provide false details. Anyone trying to monetize their blogs or websites should not indulge in such practices; they can lose the money they earned from the website.