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The
Internet surely brings people together -- all kinds of people from
all over the world, of many ages, cultures, and backgrounds. This
may be the best feature of the 'net! But wherever you have a group
of people -- whether in person or across cyberspace -- it is
important to respect the protocols of behaviour set by that group.
That's where netiquette -- etiquette for the Internet --
comes in.
As
a general rule, you should simply behave as courteously and
considerately towards on-line acquaintances as you would to any
"real" person you might meet. There are, however, certain
situations you will encounter only on-line. Here are some guidelines
for getting along within the cyber community, including email lists,
person-to-person email, newsgroups, chat rooms, and other forms of
communication.
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Don't
get attached. Do not send unsolicited
attachments to email messages. This is especially important on
an email list. There are many Internet browsers and email
software types, numerous operating systems, and multiple
versions of most software. Any of these may
not be able to read attachments from the configuration you are using.
At best it means that the person(s) you are sending it to can't
view it; at worst it can cause serious problems for their
emailing system, such as not being able to open the message it
is attached to. Additionally, many people will not open
attachments of any kind for fear of introducing a virus to their
system. Before sending an attachment, ask if it's okay.
On a mailing list, this means contacting the list administrator.
(Teamail™ does not permit
attachments of any kind.)
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NO
NEED TO SHOUT! Using all UPPER CASE letters
is considered shouting, and many people take great exception to
materials in this format. It's true that it's easier to leave the Caps Lock key on as you
keyboard so you don't have to change between upper and lower case
letters. But if you plan to spend any time at all communicating in
cyberspace, it's a wise idea to invest some time learning good
(or at least passable :) keyboarding skills. To
emphasize a particular word or phrase, do not CAPITALIZE IT but
rather surround it with
asterisks *, the symbol normally located on the Shift-6 key.
*This is a very important point!*
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Be
neat and small. Clean up your messages
before sending replies. It's not necessary to re-send the entire
message you are responding to. If your email or newsgroup
software is set up so the full message is copied when you select
Reply, be sure to delete all text that does not immediately
relate to your own message. Remember that everyone else has
already read the original message, so they don't need to receive
the whole thing again. If you want your readers to be reminded
of part(s) of the original message, quote only enough of it to
get the idea across. Delete everything else, including
signatures and footers. Why? First, because larger messages take
longer to download and open on the recipient's system. Second,
long copies are very frustrating for people who get their list
messages in digest format (see the Teamail™
FAQ for information on digests) because they have to scroll
through it all and search for your response. Cleaning up your
messages takes only a few extra moments. If you are in doubt
about whether to keep or delete any text from a prior message, get rid of it.
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Remember
the "Golden Rule." Behind every
email address is a real person, with feelings, just like
yourself. Treat each one with courtesy and respect. If you
disagree with something that has been said, feel free to
question or comment or present your viewpoint. But keep it
civil. Do not make nasty or unpleasant remarks.
Consider your words carefully. Before clicking the Send button,
re-read your message. Would you say this to someone else's face?
How would you feel if you received a message like this?
If someone makes a personal attack on you, try to ignore it
(remember that not everyone knows the rules of netiquette -- or
of plain human etiquette). Do not escalate the
situation by responding in kind. This is called flaming,
and is considered quite uncivilized behaviour. (See the Teamail™
FAQ for what to do if you feel that someone on the list has
been rude to you.) Also bear in mind that U.S. and international
laws, including libel and slander laws, do apply to cyberspace
-- and that it's easier to trace an anonymous or forged message
than you might think. Not only that, but once anything -- text,
image, video, etc. -- is online, it's there forever. It can be
reproduced in places you never thought of, and viewed by people
you never expected to see it. Don't let your words come back to haunt
you!
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Get
cultured. The Internet brings together
people of all ages, cultures, and expectations. It's very likely
that a good number of the people you meet on-line will be very
different from you, and they may not speak your language
fluently. What's considered a joke in your neighbourhood
might be an insult in someone else's culture. Always presume
that the other person has good intentions and that there has
simply been a miscommunication. Ask politely for
clarification. You (or the other person) may learn something!
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Know
your place. Each online venue -- mailing list, newsgroup,
social networking site, or chat room has a "personality." What may be
acceptable in one community can be considered quite unacceptable
in another. Read the messages other people are posting. If the
group publishes a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) or list of
rules, read it. Once you have a feeling for where you are and
how to act to fit in, go ahead and participate.
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Count
you in? Avoid posting "Me, too"
messages. If you can't contribute
something more to the discussion at the moment, wait until you
can. Each message you send must be trafficked, stored,
downloaded, and read. Unless you're in a chatty-type group where
they're acceptable, avoid sending short messages that don't add
new content ("I like that too," "Nice post,"
and "That sounds like fun" are examples of
chattiness.) Your readers will appreciate it :-).
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Be
thankful -- in advance. If you're posting a
request for information, add the notation "thanks in
advance" or "TIA" to your message. Then when
someone (or many ones) answer your question in a reply post,
you won't have to then post a thank you -- in other words, you
won't be sending yet another tiny message that others have to
open and read. Of course, if someone is extremely helpful or
does a personal favour for you, it's courteous to acknowledge
the effort by sending a thank you message direct to that person.
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Express
yourself! When you're speaking with someone
in person or on the telephone, you can see facial expressions
and hand gestures, and hear tones and inflections that indicate
the speaker's meaning. This personal touch is missing in email.
It can be difficult to understand someone's else's intentions --
or to express your own -- in email, where words appear on a
seemingly impersonal computer screen, and may have been written
in haste. Remember that there are real people reading
the messages. You can clarify your meaning with emoticons,
little text symbols that express the meaning behind the words. The
most common emoticons are :-) or :)
for happy or "I meant that as a joke," :-(
or :'-( for sad, ;-) for wink,
:-o for surprise or shock, and :-D
for laughing. (If these don't make sense, just bend your head a
little to the left. :) Emoticons are created with simple
keyboard symbols. You can also use words in brackets, such as <smile>,
<grin>, <VBG>
(very big grin), <blush>, or <grrrr>,
or standard acronyms such as ROFL (rolling on the floor
laughing) or IMHO (in my humble opinion).
A few extra keyboard strokes can save a lot of misunderstanding
:-).
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Avoid
swelled heads :-). Are you sending your
message to many individual addresses, or using a list of
addresses from your address book? Or to multiple mailing lists
and/or newsgroups? This is called spamming or "list spamming,"
and is not permitted in the Teamail™
community or on many other lists and groups. If you must send
the same message at one time to multiple addresses, place the
addresses or mailing list in the bcc: (blind
copy) line rather than in the To: or Copy: line. This way your
recipients won't have to scroll through a lengthy header made up
of email addresses to find your message. And it's also a
courtesy to the many people who do not wish to see their email
addresses broadcast to a group of people they don't know. This
also relates to ...
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Be
courteous to your host(ess). It takes a lot
of work to set up and maintain email lists, message boards, chat
rooms, and other interactive communications forums. Out of
respect for the owners of these forums, avoid promoting -- or
even mentioning -- similar forums or lists, boards, etc. For
example, if you subscribe to a list that discusses candy, it's
considered impolite to post a message telling subscribers about
other candy discussion lists -- just as you wouldn't walk into a
candy shop and tell the other customers about a candy shop down
the road. Using cc:s and To:s with multiple list names
("list spamming," see above), or copying a post from
one list or board to another is likewise impolite. If you're
unhappy with something about a list, message board, etc., either
contact the owner/administrator to try and resolve the question,
or simply unsubscribe and find a community that is more to your liking
-- there are plenty out there, with something for every interest
and personality. This goes back to simple common courtesy.
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Give
credit where it's due. Respect copyrights
and ownership of written materials and images you may find on
websites, in newsgroups, in chat rooms, in mailing lists, and
in personal correspondence. Do not copy information or
images to any other place -- including sending to your
friends or posting on your own website -- unless you have the written
permission of the person who created and/or owns it. On websites, you will usually find a copyright notice or notice of
ownership, along with an email address to contact for
permissions. In newsgroups, chat rooms, and mailing lists,
posted material is generally considered to be the property of
the person who posted it. Do not repost or redistribute
it anywhere else (online or off) without contacting the
originator to request permission or before receiving his/her permission.
(Don't presume that the owner will give you permission, because
they may choose not to, so don't post while you're waiting.)
Just because it's easy to copy and send or repost is neither
reason nor excuse to exploit someone else's hard work and
property rights. Even if it's something that you just know
everyone will want to see, resist the urge. A much better
solution is to include a link to the material. For example:
"There's a great article at http://article.com." Your
readers can then click the link and view the material if they
choose.
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Respect
the privacy of others. Do not use anyone
else's email address for purposes of sales or solicitations of
any kind unless they specifically request it. It's that simple.
Return
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