Originally posted here by Ishbar
-no hard to read fonts
-no word hilighting
-font most strongly contrast background
-no use names longer then one line or hard to read due to symbols
-no obsessive use of generic smilies to convey emotions. 3 per line absolute MAX.
-no use of numbers in name unless it holds meaning
-don't use afk, brb, lol, gtg, ugg, asl, or any other internet confined acronyms on someone that has a good chance of not knowing what it means.
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Hard to read font's I can agree with... same as a font/bg contrast.. but that's about it...

Word hilighting has been around since bbs days using either _ - * or all caps.. now people just have the option of using bold and italics as technology progresses.

As for names longer than one line, sometimes in my MSN, for example, i'll put a quote as my screen name... most people tend to still know who I am... because if ya don't know the person's email address then why the **** are they on your list.

emoticons (smileys) are great, and have also been around ages, just no programs turn : D into .. so that the non-geeks/people who haven't been using them for years can appreciate them more.... The reason they are great is because they allow you to display your mood in a conversation.... it's a lil easier to realize sarcasm when there's a after it... for example.

No numbers in a name...... Impossible... there are only so many names out there, and with chat/im programs you can't have the same name as someone else.... I suppose you can change your nickname on them, but yer actual login (the one that never changes) has to be unique. So it's common practice to add numbers or characters after your name if someone else already has it...

As far as internet acronyms....Again they've been around for a _LONG_ time... they're a part of internet culture... the same as car guys have their lingo and CB radio operators have their short forms..... You either learn them.. or leave.. it's a pretty simple concept.... It's kinda like saying people shouldn't speak a language other than English because you don't understand it....