On June 7, the official Nintendo Support Twitter account announced a request to users to enjoy online play.

4 manners to enjoy online play from Nintendo
・Don’t use abusive language, and always remember to be considerate of others.
・Do not do what you do not want done to you.
・Be careful with personal information when communicating with strangers.
・Do not give usernames or character names that someone would find offensive.

Nintendo Support emphasizes that the people you play with online are actual humans, not computers. They recommend using the “block function” if users actually receive or see a breach of etiquette online. They also urge them not to retaliate against the other party and to use the reporting function in games that have it.

Many users said, “Absolutely right!” and sympathized with Nintendo. On the other hand, some lamented that the current state of manners is so bad that manufacturers have to issue such a request.

According to one study, refraining from going out during the pandemic increased the amount of time spent on social media, which in turn increased the frequency with which criticism and slander were written and the exposure to information that one finds offensive. Furthermore, it was found that many of those who participated in the flaming did not realize that they were writing slander. The expert who conducted the study said, “It is important to always be humble enough to realize that you might become a perpetrator too and to respect others, that is, to try not to do to others what you don’t want done to you.”