Japanese Netiquette?

Hello! I'm a newbie just joined after much enjoyable lurking. Quick intro: grew up in Taiwan with lots of Japanese snacks and enka as lullaby; love Japanese movies/classic rock; now living in deep Bush country :sorry:

If any kind soul would like to play Miss Manners to my dilemma:

Recently I posted a link to a message board (where I'm a regular member) that was censored. The reason given was the link refers to an individual's non-profit site. Apparently I neglected a Japanese netiquette, of getting site owner's permission (or due respect) before spreading the word on their behalf.

A few things though: The site owner already promoted the link on a public Yahoo board. The site isn't user-restricted and is probably on Google. Lastly, I mentioned the link as a casual aside in the spirit of sharing info. It wasn't part of a page collecting semi-permanent links (which in English-language web sometimes requires courtesy email.)

So, was the board admin (an obasan who's had trouble with hotlinks) being unusually cautious, or have I violated Japanese netiquette - and where to study up on them?

Thanks for your advice!
Alfie

alfiegal said:

Recently I posted a link to a message board (where I'm a regular member) that was censored. The reason given was the link refers to an individual's non-profit site. Apparently I neglected a Japanese netiquette, of getting site owner's permission (or due respect) before spreading the word on their behalf.

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Who was it you were supposed to get permission from - the site the link goes to or the message board you posted on? I guess you mean the former but it isn't quite clear.

alfiegal said:

Lastly, I mentioned the link as a casual aside in the spirit of sharing info. [...]
or have I violated Japanese netiquette[...]?

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This isn't a Japanese netiquette problem IMO.

As a matter of fact I recently had a similar problem with an (mostly*) English run site. I posted a link to a free download page of a Japanese language school as part of a post with a very short multiple choice Japanese grammar quiz I'd made.

Anyway they deleted the whole post _including_ the quiz questions and I decided that I didn't want to be putting my effort into a site a) that persnickity and b) that didn't have the courtesy of keeping the quiz questions. I haven't been back there since (and frankly they needed all the visitors / posts / help they could get )

* (It's a site for Japanese to learn English and also for English to learn Japanese but the admins and people involved appear to be mostly English).

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ANYWAY enough griping and on to the useful stuff.

1. Many sites prefer you to link only to the home page.
2. Japanese sites often use the phrase link free to mean you are free to link to the site.

netiquette

Who was it you were supposed to get permission from - the site the link goes to or the message board you posted on? I guess you mean the former but it isn't quite clear.

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Hi PaulTB: Yes, I was supposed to get permission from site A before mentioning them on site B, who automatically assumed I was posting (a site that obviously wanted visitors) without consent & "withheld" my post. B then spoke to A on my behalf. But I was left with a slap on wrist and funny feeling

It's ironic, really. Both are fan sites reproducing images and lyrics without copyright permission, out of "the spirit of sharing". yet when the same spirit struck me, a gesture of goodwill had turned into a foreigner's faux-pas.

Anyway they deleted the whole post _including_ the quiz questions and I decided that I didn't want to be putting my effort into a site a) that persnickity and b) that didn't have the courtesy of keeping the quiz questions. I haven't been back there since (and frankly they needed all the visitors / posts / help they could get

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How did they justify deleting? No good to turn away sizable contribution like that!

1. Many sites prefer you to link only to the home page.
2. Japanese sites often use the phrase link free to mean you are free to link to the site.

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Thanks a bunch. These are reasonable rules, though:
1. Sometimes asking people to wade through the rough for the diamond is, as you said, persnickety.
2. It absolutely baffles me why some sites say they're "Not Link-Free", yet are raking their brains for more hits.

alfiegal said:

Yes, I was supposed to get permission from site A before mentioning them on site B, who automatically assumed I was posting (a site that obviously wanted visitors) without consent & "withheld" my post. B then spoke to A on my behalf. But I was left with a slap on wrist and funny feeling

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That is rather bizzare.

alfiegal said:

How did they justify deleting? No good to turn away sizable contribution like that!

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Heh, it wasn't 'sizable' particularly. It's the principle of the thing though (particularly as I hadn't kept a copy myself ...)

It's the principle of the thing though

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...a lack of it of & some power in their hands... [HUGE EXPLOSIVE MUSHROOM CLOUD SMILIE]!

well, since i started it, might as well finish it off "proper".

after more investigation, we can conclude it WASN'T "Japanese netiquette" as you suspected. it's more like the infamous rigidity of customs & expectations. this 50-ish lady expected me to do some lengthy introduction & praise (!) for any homepage I cite, unless they are for-profit "famous man" pages (automatically "Link Free".) her theory goes each homepage is like a person, and requires formal introduction like those between men.

ANYWAY, when i explained i was not Japanese, had language difficulty for typing such intro, etc. -- she said i'm excused from the rules (which, i might add, are invisible and assumed by everyone, unlike "forum rules" you see spelt out in english-language BBS.)

...what a mountain made out of mole-hill!
At least I got a first-hand taste of that infamous "stiffling" of certain aspects of J culture...