Silly rules help groups adapt to uncertainty about the stability of social order by enriching the information environment. They help participants in these groups track their beliefs about the likelihood that violations of important rules will be punished and thus the likelihood that important rules will be violated. These beliefs are critical to the incentive to invest resources in interaction.
Examples:
wearing a head covering in public
standing for the anthem
using the fork with the left and the knife with the right hand
What formal or informal rules can people use online where things like hats don’t work?
One thing that I have come up with since I read this post is
Emoticons. :-)
Reacting to posts with suitable emoticons shows who pays attention and who smiles toward whom—something that is an important signal offline but hard to replicate online.
[Question] Silly Online Rules
Silly Rules (found in the Alignment Newsletter) are rules that do not have functional value in themselves.
Silly rules help groups adapt to uncertainty about the stability of social order by enriching the information environment. They help participants in these groups track their beliefs about the likelihood that violations of important rules will be punished and thus the likelihood that important rules will be violated. These beliefs are critical to the incentive to invest resources in interaction.
Examples:
wearing a head covering in public
standing for the anthem
using the fork with the left and the knife with the right hand
What formal or informal rules can people use online where things like hats don’t work?
One thing that I have come up with since I read this post is
Emoticons. :-)
Reacting to posts with suitable emoticons shows who pays attention and who smiles toward whom—something that is an important signal offline but hard to replicate online.
What are your suggestions?