A SHORT GUIDE TO NETIQUETTE

Netiquette (neologism, a portmanteau formed from "Internet etiquette") is a catch-all term for the conventions of politeness recognised on Usenet, in mailing lists, and on other electronic forums such as internet message boards. --from WikipediA

Read the short guide below, then take the self-quiz at http://www.albion.com/netiquette/netiquiz.html

Don't worry, there are no grades on this test, but a good score indicates you are ready to participate in an online course. Be sure to post any comments or queries about this document to our YG e-list.

The Dummies Guide to Email List Netiquette

Before you hit SEND, check these 12 golden rules:

(1) Read all unread messages in your inbox, to avoid sending

superfluous messages.

(2) Think before you write. Is your message relevant and appropriate?

(3) Think after you write. Re-read your message. Is it clear, concise

and (again) relevant? Off-topic comments (sometimes flagged OT in

the subject line) may be acceptable in some online communities,

but not in others.

(4) Write properly. Many people will not take you seriously if you write

messages without capitalization or punctuation (i dont like that). Use

abbreviations only if you are sure everyone will understand them

(imho or btw, for example).

(5) Break your writing into paragraphs: screenfuls of text are

off-putting. "White space" separates your ideas, makes it

easier to quote selectively (see #9 below) and encourages

recipients to read your message in full.

(6) If you have nothing to say, say nothing. Unless your fellow users

are very patient, emails that just say "me too", "me neither", "I agree"

or (worse) "I don't know anything about this subject, but ..." are likely

to irritate. Such messages might be better sent as a private email to

the sender (do this by copying and pasting the private party's

address into your mailer).

(7) Give your message a clear subject title. If you read your

messages as a daily digest, try to refer to the subject of the

thread to which you are replying, rather than digest #4203,

as appropriate.

(8) Do not quote lengthy messages or entire digests in

your reply. It is more annoying than you probably realize for

users who read their messages in a daily digest, and it increases

the time and cost of downloads for others. Similarly, a two line

"signature" should suffice -- especially if you are frequent

correspondent (we all know who you are! - and put your profile

into the Yahoo Group site so we do!).

9. Leave the part of the message your are replying to. Otherwise, readers won´t

    know what you are referring to in your message.

10. Post links to the places you are mentioning in your message. Readers will save

   time and most likely will visit the site immediately.

11. Write for the lowest common denominator. Assume your reader

is using telnet across a 12k dial-up modem on a slow 386 or an

Apple II. Don't use html, don't use fancy graphics and colours and

don't assume that links are clickable. Remember that internet

access is expensive in some parts of the world, and many

people pay per minute.

12. Break one of these rules rather than go against your

COMMON SENSE -- the best guide to (n)etiquette ever discovered.

Wanna know more? - Visit the WikipediA article.

Nigel Caplan (nigelcaplan@yahoo.com) - Last edited by Elizabeth Hanson Smith 2012

University of Pennsylvania English Language Programs