72 LANGUAGE AND THE INTERNET
applied, in individual instances. It can take a chatgroup away from
its theme for days.
Such explicit guidance is unusual in the real world. We do not
expect to see, as we move around, directions about how we should
behave, other than in a few specific circumstances, as in the case
of road signs and keeping off the grass. Linguistic directions are
only provided in specialist settings (e.g. the use of correct forms
of address in a military context or in law courts), form-filling (e.g.
whether to use capital letters, where to sign), and a few other sit-
uations. We are not usually instructed, as we enter a shop, about
how the staff should be addressed, acknowledged, and thanked; nor
would we expect any such instruction. The reason is obvious: we
have a lifetime of experience behind us from which we have learned
the conventions of interaction. Our parents or caretakers spent un-
remembered hours teaching us the pragmatic rules of the language
(‘Say ta’, ‘I haven’t heard that little word yet’ (viz.please), ‘Don’t
talk like that to the vicar’, ‘I won’t have language like that in
here’),andourschoolteachersfollowedthisupwithmoreadvanced
lessons in formal politeness, letter-writing, report writing, and a
range of other linguistic skills. Usage guides and style manuals are
available for those who, having come through the educational sys-
tem, remain uncertain of what counts as appropriate language;
but these tend to deal only with contentious points of usage vari-
ation (such as those illustrated on p. 63), and not with broad
issues of interaction, which are assumed to be known. This is a rea-
sonable assumption. In everyday conversation, we do not expect
to find moderators who tell us whether we are off-topic, saying
something unacceptable, or going too far (though there are al-
ways self-appointed ones). That is for an Orwellian ( 1984 ) kind of
world.
But with the Internet, explicit linguistic guidance is routine,
varying from popular advice to detailed manuals of behaviour.
One newspaper article on e-mail etiquette^13 provides a series
(^13) David Thomas (2000). At the same time, some popular accounts of the Internet give the
impression that new users will encounter no problems: ‘If you’re new to the Internet,
the important thing to remember is that going online doesn’t require any special techy
skills or knowhow’ (‘This is the Internet’, series produced by theIndependentand the