Help:Beginner's Guide to Furry

If you've got a good piece of advice (see discussion), go ahead and add it . . . --GreenReaper^(talk)

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Netiquette for furries

Nowadays, a large part of furry fandom is the social networking, and nowadays most of that happens online because the experience and the results are immediate. Here are some rules of the road for general use based on personal experiences:

1. You will hear a great many different ideas out there. See if you can understand the other person's perspective.
2. Be quick to listen and slow to speak. Emotions may be running high after you read something, so before you hit that "send" button, stop and re-read what you've written. That should give you enough time to be sure you mean exactly what you just wrote.
3. Try not to take personally anything said in a public chatroom. If something comes up that offends you, clear the screen, scroll it away, or go take a break.
4. Don't check your conscience at the virtual door. If you feel uncomfortable in any situation, that's probably a sign you need to back out quick.
5. Do talk it over with someone you trust if you are experiencing an emotional build-up. This is something best done in person, but a private message session with a close friend might work, too. If you believe it will help, pray.
6. Try to be friendly to all, but don't hang around where furs do nothing but rub your fur the wrong way just because you're lonely, either.
7. Take all criticism and advice with a grain of salt. If someone offers something in the way of advice that is properly spelled and consists of more than two words ("how ky00t" and "sux0rs" definitely don't count) and you are inclined to take offense, you might try going back and rereading it later...then if you can tell it's nothing but empty words, you can ignore it.
8. Learn to ignore things. Don't respond to absolutely everything.
9. Most furs will offer friendly hugs or scritches and do not mean anything by it. If, however, you are not comfortable with a certain level of intimacy, it's best to be up front about it.
10. Chatroom denizens appreciate a "good Samaritan." Try offering to help someone who appears to need help once in a while as you feel led.
11. Have fun. If it stops being fun, perhaps it is time for a break. This rule may be set aside in the case of serious discussions, which do occasionally arise.

Lingo and Emoticons

A few items to know as you dive into a furry chatroom:

• fur, furson, kawaii, scritch, tailwave, yiff
• "=^.^=" is a furry variant on the popular Japanese smiley
• \|/ is a text-based "tailwave"
• 8=o3 is an otter face. Be creative!