DIGITAL HUMANITIES AND POLITENESS: A PROPOSED GUIDELINE FOR TEXT INTERACTIONS IN THE VIRTUAL WORLD

This simple opinionated review paper is about digital humanities and politeness, on proposing a guideline for text interactions in the virtual world. Theories on digital humanities, civil discourse, text interactions, politeness, social media, public space, and social harmony are presented, and then outlines and standpoints are pointed out. Based on the outlines and standpoints, a guideline for text interactions is elaborated, inductively summed up, and proposed for the open society in the virtual world. The text interactions here are pragmatically viewed, i.e. how politeness should be maintained rather than camaraderie, as a common weapon for creating a social harmony in the public space of the virtual world. The proposed guideline is of three main hints: (1) Consider your surroundings, (2) Consider your physical and mental performance, (3) Consider the words and images you will have left unforgotten, and probably, unforgiven. This guideline is, however, optional, not obligatory, for those who would like to maintain a good relationship towards social harmony among netizens in the open virtual world.