Taking part in discussions online can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Friendships are made, arguments listened to and an open forum offered to anyone who has a point of view to share. There's no need for awkward small talk or stuttered introductions, you can dive straight in and have your say.

Keeping the experience positive for all involved takes very little effort and below we've set out a few 'netiquette' guidelines that, if followed, will keep your conversations flowing and hopefully your feelings intact.

Firstly, we ask all users to abide by the house rules. On our unregistered Soundbite boards, posts that contravene the rules will be removed. On our registered discussions forums posts will be removed and accounts of those who flaunt the rules can be cancelled. If you're planning to take part on the Virgin Media sound bite boards and discussion forums, you should also read our Terms & Conditions first.

Some netiquette pointers

• Respect your fellow posters. Say to others only what you wouldn’t mind having said to you. Disagreeing with people is all part of the fun, but choose your words carefully – insulting people for the sake of it just isn't nice.
• Making yourself clear and understood on the Internet is not easy, as you will know if you have attempted to dismiss a fellow poster's argument with witty wordplay only to have them think you're being an arse and offer to become romantically involved with one, or more, of your relations. Please take this into consideration when reading and especially responding to other people's comments.
• Before you post a comment, think 'would I say this to their face?' If the answer is no, then don't post it.
• Read your comments carefully before you post them. A second read can often help you to make sure you are being clear about what you want to say and also iron out typos and errors that may be misread by people. It's rather embarrassing to suggest someone be 'strung up by the pirates'!
• Remember that no one online can tell what sort of mood you're in or know what you are like in person. Try to make sure you say what you mean rather than use phrases or comments that your friends would understand but a stranger may misread. Emoticons, created using your keyboard, can help to convey your tone of voice, establishing how you are actually delivering something.
• Be brief. A conversation will flow better and a posting will be read more carefully if you keep comments concise and to the point. Remember that some people may be reading posts on a mobile phone, rather than a computer screen, so the shorter the better. It's also a good idea to use paragraphs to break up the text. Abbreviations can help to keep your messages brief.
• DON'T SHOUT! Don't use all capitals when posting. This is considered the online equivalent of shouting, which you would try to avoid in any discussion. If you do want to have a bit of a bawl, just add capitals to emphasise specific words, it's far more effective.
• Remember that anything you post to the Internet represents you and can be traced back to you even if you don't print your name, so don't post anything you are not prepared to stand by.
• Posts may remain on the Internet for a very long time. If you wouldn't want a potential employer, your boss, partner, mother-in-law, the government, a local crime syndicate, or even the police reading (or worse misreading) your comments, it's probably best not to make them.
• Obey copyright laws. Words, pictures and other content from websites, books or wherever will most likely be owned by someone else, so don't copy them or post them without prior permission.
• Emails should only be forwarded to other people with the permission of the original sender. It’s a bit like going behind someone’s back otherwise.
• Do not get involved in 'flame wars' (personal attacks between users). If you accidentally or deliberately insult someone they may decide to post messages attacking you. Ignoring such comments is the best policy. Getting involved can seem like fun at first but will soon become tedious and occasionally hurtful. It's much simpler to just report it to the Community team.
• Do not send spam to message boards or other users. Spam just slows everything down for everyone. No one will thank you for forwarding spam to them and if you try to post spam to a message board you will normally have your account cancelled. Spam is the Internet equivalent of rotting turnips, which you wouldn't casually drop through someone's letter box.
• Chain letters run a close second to spam in the loathing stakes. You have been warned!
• If you are upset by something you read on a website, whether on a message board or not, contact the website owner and alert them to the remarks. They will thank you for bringing it to their attention.
• If you read or see something that you believe is against the law, contact the police. Unless, of course, you are an arch-criminal wanted by Interpol (not the band), in which case you may prefer to keep it shut.

If you'd like to learn more about Netiquette, read up on Wikipedia.