Netiquette

Netiquette

Now that we've discussed how to send email, it's time to talk about a few rules of the road. Understanding netiquette, or Internet etiquette, will keep you from making an electronic faux pas and will enable you to tell when others do. Netiquette is as close as the Internet comes to having rules. Like every society in history, the Net has to have a few mutually agreed upon guidelines to efficiently manage resources and maintain group harmony. Chaos reigns in some corners of the Net, but it's in your best interest to be a solid, upstanding netizen.

One List of Rules

Below I have listed one set of netiquette rules that illustrate the major issues and common errors made in Internet discourse. This section is taken from a document prepared by Arlene Rinaldi (1998) for basic netiquette instruction:

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

(Email, LISTSERV groups, Mailing lists, and Usenet)

Keep paragraphs and messages short and to the point.
Focus on one subject per message and always include a pertinent subject title for the message, that way the user can locate the message quickly.
Don't use academic networks (like Augsburg's) for commercial or proprietary work.
Include your signature at the bottom of email messages.
Your signature footer should include your name, position, affiliation and Internet addresses and should not exceed more than 10 lines. Optional information could include your address, phone number and URL for a WWW homepage.
Capitalize words only to highlight an important point or to distinguish a title or heading. *Asterisks* surrounding a word also can be used to make a stronger point. Capitalizing whole words that are not titles is generally termed as SHOUTING!
Limit line length and avoid control (special non-language) characters.
Follow chain of command procedures for corresponding with superiors. For example, don't send a complaint via Email directly to the "top" just because you can.
Be professional and careful what you say about others. Email is easily forwarded.
Cite all quotes, references and sources and respect copyright and license agreements.
It is considered extremely rude to forward personal email to mailing lists or Usenet without the original author's permission.
Be careful when using sarcasm and humor. Without face to face communications your joke may be viewed as criticism.
Acronyms can be used to abbreviate when possible:
Examples: IMHO= in my humble/honest opinion

FYI = for your information

BTW = by the way

Flame = antagonistic criticism

:-) = happy face for humor

However, messages that are filled with acronyms can be confusing and annoying to the reader, i.e. FYI IMHO I FLAME newbies who don't RTFM.

Rinaldi's list gives you the gist of what you should and should not do with email in general. She also has sections in her document that cover other Internet applications we'll discuss later. The full article is available at:

http://www.cs.biu.ac.il/home/leagal/netguide/index.html

What follows is an expansion on certain of her rules that I would like to stress.

Capitalization

As Rinaldi mentions, capitalization is viewed as shouting except in the case of acronyms or product names. More often than not, a person typing their entire message in caps is not shouting, but is merely less than knowledgeable about the rules. These folks are newbies or new users and should be treated gently. Don't forget--everyone has been a newbie at some point. Subtle reminders should do the job here.

There are cases in the Internet where you may need to use caps (or refrain from them) to use an application that resides on a Unix computer. Unix machines are extremely case-sensitive, and if you attempt to type a command in lower case that is intended to be in upper case you will be stymied. So, if you read about a site you'd like to look at and all the commands are given in upper case, be sure to enter them this way. Otherwise, just type along in mostly lower case and enjoy the laid-back land of the Internet! 8-)

Emoticons or Smileys

Of course, I was being sarcastic in that last line, as I have been from time to time in the lessons. However, it's very difficult to tell what the true intent of a line of text is in email. In this virtual world, there are no facial movements or changes in tone that can make a derogatory comment into a friendly joke. One academic study as shown that people correctly interpret the intended tone of an email only about 50 percent of the time (Kruger, Gordan, and Kuban, 2006). Because of this, we need to make some changes in our standard typing to convey emotions. One way is to emphasize words or phrases using *asterisks* or _underline symbols_. Another is the use of emoticons (for emotion icons)--symbols that stand for emotive content.

The little 8-) character following my last sentence about capitalization is just one example of an emoticon, which are also called smileys. If you turn your head to the left, it looks a little like a guy with glasses on smiling. Feel free to create your own, but you can choose from the selection below.

:-) basic smiley face
;-) sarcasm

:-( user is unhappy

8-) user wears glasses

B-) user wears horn-rimmed glasses

(-: user is left handed

:*) user is drunk

:-@ user is screaming

d8= your pet beaver is wearing goggles and a hard hat

You can see from this list how quickly the whole communicative aspect deteriorates and the fun begins. 8-) There are lists and dictionaries of smileys available on the Internet (see the assignment for this lesson for a few addresses).

Flaming

Now we'll return to that capitalization-filled message that isn't a mistake: a flame. Flaming is an often-angry, mean-spirited attack on another person via email. It is a major breach of netiquette to flame someone. It's rather counterproductive and usually the result of either a quick move to judgment or a sadistic temperament. Unfortunately, there is little you can do when you have been flamed. Responding in kind brings only joy to the flamer and provides you with only momentary satisfaction. My advice is to contact a systems administrator at the flamer's institution and register a complaint. Those who flame repeatedly can have their accounts shut down. You may be lucky enough to never be flamed personally (I haven't, unless I'm just too naive 8-) ). I just wanted you to be familiar with the term since it often shows up in heated discussions (i.e., "I'm not trying to flame here, but I think your ideas are full of . . . ").

Subject Headings

I cannot emphasize enough here the importance of a good subject heading for your message. If a person or a listserv sends me a message without a subject heading, I will generally delete it. As well, subject headings with non-descriptive titles like "Internet" or "Hi!" can be a bother to deal with. Now don't get me wrong. I read every piece of mail I receive from folks involved in this class. However, when I'm reading messages from my listservs I need a coherent, meaningful subject heading to help me decide if I should read the message. Try to be as descriptive as possible in the space provided. Other users out there (who are even pickier than I am) will thank you. Most important, your message will get read.

Message and Signature File Length

Rinaldi mentions keeping messages and signature files short, and I shout, "here, here!" There's nothing wrong with sending a long message per se. You want to be sure of two things: one, that your recipient(s) will actually want to see the whole message, and two, that you let them know in the subject line that it is a long message (i.e., "Subj: Report on NAFTA - *Long*"). Long messages aren't much of a mechanical or financial difficulty for us in higher education, but for those who have smaller quota accounts or pay per message received, they can be annoying and costly. So, keep your messages manageable in size and, if possible, warn your recipients.

With signature files, you generally want to stick with the ten line rule to keep your messages shorter (see above for reasons). Adding a couple of extra lines is no great sin, but more than that drives some people bonkers. The whole line limit comes out of an early prevalence of _long_, _long_ signature files that ate up space and served only artistic (and egotistic) purpose. We're talking 20-30+ lines here. You will occasionally see longer ones, but please try to be courteous.

Conclusion

After letting this lesson soak in, you should now be able to confidently dine at the Internet table and use the right fork. With this knowledge in your cranium, I now pronounce you ready to send email wherever you wish. Come our next two lessons, we'll look at two venues to help you find people with whom you can talk. Until then, keep your questions coming!

Sources

Kruger, J., Gordan, C., and Kuban, J. (2006). Intentions in teasing: When "just kidding" just isn't good enough. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 412-425.

Rinaldi, A. (1998). Electronic Communications (email, LISTSERV groups, Mailing lists, and Usenet). In The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette [Online].

Available via WWW at: http://www.cs.biu.ac.il/home/leagal/netguide/index.html

If you plan to distribute multiple copies of this work, please contact the author.

_Click here to connect to the assignment for this lesson