Netiquette for beginners

What is 'Netiquette'?
It is the application of social graces when communicating with others whilst on the Internet. These rules apply whether you are using e-mail, chat-groups, or newsgroups.

Face to face communication can result in misunderstanding and on occasions, strained relations between the parties involved. Written communication is not without its problems either. As e-mail use has become widely used, many new users have been on the receiving end of
scathing attacks from other users who took offence to a message from a new user. Such attacks are known as 'flaming' or being 'flamed'.

A system of etiquette has developed in the field of e-mail and newsgroup communication. To check this out, try entering 'netiquette' in your favourite search engine when next you are on the Internet and see what is offering.

The following 'Do's and Don'ts are excerpts from various sites that offer guidance on the subject. They will give you an idea of what is and isn't acceptable conduct in e-mail use.

Before you enter a news group you should spend some time reading that group's FAQ’s (frequently asked questions) and its information for newbies (new users). The basic points are:

Editing the original message.
To save space in the body of your response to a message it is recommended that you should delete unnecessary text from the original message, retaining only that text to which you are responding.

This allows the thread of discussion on a topic to be easily followed by the recipients. This principle can also be applied to the head and foot of the message which contain the sender’s details e.g. the date, time, and address. Leave only the important text of the sender's message relevant to the topic, and the sender's name.

These may be considered to be Cardinal Rules.
1. DON'T include the entire text of the message to which you are responding. Never include mail headers except the 'From' line.

2. DO cut the original message down, leaving just the pertinent text to which you are responding.

3. DON'T reply to a point in a message without paraphrasing what you're responding to, and who said it.

4. DO paraphrase briefly. E-mail programs usually indicate the lines of the original message by prefixing them with a > symbol. Other programs offer options to identify the original text lines by indenting them.

5. DON'T send a message asking, "Who want's to talk about X".

6. DO say something yourself about the subject you're raising.

7. DON'T SEND A MESSAGE IN ALLCAPS. CAPITALISED MESSAGES ARE HARDER TO READ THAN LOWER CASE, and text in upper case is considered to be shouting at your
addressee.

8. DO use normal capitalisation.

The above information is offered as a guide for new users and may help when you decide to join a news or chat group.

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