When you express your personal opinion in an online forum, you must be as courteous as if you were speaking with someone face-to-face. Insults and personal attacks will not be tolerated. To disagree with an opinion, an idea or an event is one thing, but to show disrespect for other people is quite another. Great minds don't always think alike - and that's precisely what makes online dialogue so interesting and valuable.

Netiquette is the set of rules of conduct governing how you should behave when communicating via the Internet. Before you post a message to a blog or forum, it's important to read and understand these rules. Otherwise, you may be banned from posting.

  1. RCInet.ca's online forums are not anonymous. Users must register, and give their full name and place of residence, which are displayed alongside each of their comments. RCInet.ca reserves the right not to publish comments if there is any doubt as to the identity of their author.
  2. Assuming the identity of another person with intent to mislead or cause harm is a serious infraction that may result in the offender being banned.
  3. RCInet.ca's online forums are open to everyone, without regard to age, ethnic origin, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
  4. Comments that are defamatory, hateful, racist, xenophobic, sexist, or that disparage an ethnic origin, religious affiliation or age group will not be published.
  5. In online speak, writing in ALL CAPS is considered yelling, and may be interpreted as aggressive behaviour, which is unpleasant for the people reading. Any message containing one or more words in all caps (except for initialisms and acronyms) will be rejected, as will any message containing one or more words in bold, italic or underlined characters.
  6. Use of vulgar, obscene or objectionable language is prohibited. Forums are public places and your comments could offend some users. People who use inappropriate language will be banned.
  7. Mutual respect is essential among users. Insulting, threatening or harassing another user is prohibited. You can express your disagreement with an idea without attacking anyone.
  8. Exchanging arguments and opposing views is a key component of healthy debate, but it should not turn into a dialogue or private discussion between two users who address each other without regard for the other participants. Messages of this type will not be posted.
  9. Radio Canada International publishes contents in seven languages. The language used in the forums has to be the same as the contents we publish. The usage of other languages, with the exception of some words, is forbidden.
  10. Messages that are off-topic will not be published.
  11. Making repetitive posts disrupts the flow of discussions and will not be tolerated.
  12. Adding images or any other type of file to comments is forbidden. Including hyperlinks to other websites is allowed, as long as they comply with netiquette. Radio Canada International is in no way responsible for the content of such sites, however.
  13. Copying and pasting text written by someone else, even if you credit the author, is unacceptable if that text makes up the majority of your comment.
  14. Posting any type of advertising or call to action, in any form, to Radio Canada International forums is prohibited.
  15. All comments and other types of content are moderated before publication. Radio Canada International reserves the right to refuse any comment for publication.
  16. Radio Canada International reserves the right to close a forum at any time, without notice.
  17. Radio Canada International reserves the right to amend this code of conduct (netiquette) at any time, without notice.
  18. By participating in its online forums, you allow Radio Canada International to publish your comments on the web for an indefinite time. This also implies that these messages will be indexed by Internet search engines.
  19. Radio Canada International has no obligation to remove your messages from the web if one day you request it. We invite you to carefully consider your comments and the consequences of their posting.
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Print Thursday, 01 April 2010 00:00 Written by Eye on the Arctic, Radio Canada International


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Read more...Heather Exner-Pirot
Dr. Heather Exner-Pirot is the Graduate and Research Officer at the International Centre for Northern Governance and Development at the University of Saskatchewan. She's interested in Arctic security, circumpolar relations and northern governance issues. Heather is a former program assistant with the University of the Arctic Undergraduate Office.



 

Ingrid Hein
Ingrid Hein hails from a background in journalism focused on technology and social issues. In the last decade, her career has diverged on two paths - the first focussed on online marketing, social media and web content development and the second, writing, new media and content creation, either marketing or journalism.  Her noted achievements include founding and launching the award-winning National Film Board of Canada web site CitizenShift, facilitating the development of a local newspaper for a community of eleven villages in South Africa, working as a technology columnist for Hour (Montreal) and Eye (Toronto) weekly magazines for nearly five years, and helping several Montreal technology firms better market their web sites and products. 

 

Read more...
Eilís Quinn
Eilís Quinn
Eilís Quinn is a journalist for Radio Canada International's Eye on the Arctic. She started her journalism career in 2000 and went on to work for numerous publications including the New York Daily News, the Toronto Star, the Canadian Press and Lonely Planet. Her work has also appeared in major publications around the world including The Globe and Mail (Canada), The Daily Telegraph (Australia), Harper's Bazaar (Singapore), Aftenposten (Norway) and The Press (New Zealand). Her travel books have been reviewed in the Chicago Tribune, the South China Morning Post and the San Francisio Chronicle. Eilís has always gravitated to work in the world's coldest regions: whether it's in the Tibetan mountains as a host for Discovery Channel's Best in China series or reporting from regions throughout the circumpolar world including the Yukon, Nunavut, Greenland and Murmansk, Russia.

 

Levon Sevunts
Born and raised in Armenia, Levon started his journalistic career in 1990, covering wars and civil strife in the Caucasus and Central Asia. In 1992, after the government in Armenia shut down the TV program he was working for, Levon immigrated to Canada. He learned English and eventually went back to journalism, working first in print and then in broadcasting. His work has appeared in major Canadian and U.S. newspapers, including The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Toronto Star, The New York Times and The Washington Times. Levon's journalistic assignments have taken him from the Canadian Arctic to Sahara and the killing fields of Darfur, from the streets of Montreal to the snow-capped mountaintops of Hindu Kush in Afghanistan. He says "But best of all, I've been privileged to tell the stories of hundreds of people who've generously opened up their homes, refugee tents and their hearts to me."