What The Yesterweb's Social Etiquette Section Covers

The Yesterweb's Social Etiquette section sets out the behavior the community expects in online interactions, and it is best read as the practical companion to the "Manifesto for a New Web." The site describes the manifesto as three core commitments drawn from two years of community organizing, and the etiquette as the everyday conduct that follows from them. In short: treat others with care, listen before arguing, and when conflict appears, aim at resolution rather than victory.

The norms the section points to

The site's own framing of the manifesto supplies the norms that the etiquette section applies to daily interaction:

• Social responsibility and partisanship. The community recognizes that not all beliefs can share one space. Diversity of opinion is respected up to bounds that reflect oppressive intentions, such as discrimination based on age, sex, gender, class, nation/race/ethnicity, religion, or disability. When such conflict appears, the stated expectation is to understand the situation and take the side of the oppressed.
• Distinguishing malice from ignorance. Where it is unclear whether harm was intentional or accidental, the site calls for investigation through dialogue, on the reasoning that ignorance can be resolved with education.
• Collective well-being and personal growth. Healthy community life is described as requiring sustainable selflessness and consistent social effort, with compassionate consideration for everyone involved in a situation.

Approaching conflict with the intention of resolution

The manifesto is explicit about communication style: members should train their ability to listen and empathize, strive patiently for unity and dialogue rather than division and debate, and approach conflict intending to resolve it. It also warns against building community goals purely out of opposition or antagonism toward something. For a reader trying to apply this, the practical test is simple: before posting in a dispute, ask whether the message is aimed at understanding the other person or at winning.

How etiquette relates to the commitments

The site treats the manifesto commitments as expectations upheld by all participants "to the best of their ability," not as rules or guidelines. The etiquette section is where those expectations become visible in ordinary exchanges — how members speak to each other, how they handle a disagreement, and how they respond when harm occurs. The mission statement ties the two together: working with the guidelines established by the manifesto and the social etiquette to progressively transform the culture of the internet and beyond.

What to keep in mind

The page evidence available here covers the mission, the manifesto, and the summary framing, but does not reproduce the full text of the Social Etiquette section itself. If you want the specific wording of its norms, read that section directly on yesterweb.org rather than relying on secondhand summaries. The site presents these as expectations for participants who believe in building a new web culture, so they are most useful as a guide to how to join and behave in the community — not as a neutral code imposed on outsiders.