A Guide to 'Netiquette’ – or on line manners
First and foremost remember you are sending an e-mail to
a person. A person with feelings, a person with a busy
job, a person with a home life, a person just like you.
So remember the Golden Rule:
"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you".
This Rule underwrites all the other guidelines contained
in this Guide.
So first,
Think before you write, and think twice before you send
Don't send anything in writing that you wouldn't feel
comfortable saying to someone in person and remember once
you have hit the ‘send’ button you lose control of your
message, it is stored indefinitely and could be forwarded
to anyone.
2
Take a few momments to profread before you sned something
Frequent typographical errors or misspellings will
distract your readers, and may leave a bad impression.
Use the spell checker.
3
Be precise, be clear
No one should have to work very hard to understand
another person's main point. Give enough background
information to allow everyone to follow your idea, but
not so much background material that you'll bore your
readers.
Always try and keep your e-mails short – more than one
screen ? is your message appropriate for e-mail or should
it be an attached report?
4
Avoid acronyms
Remember that not everyone reading your e-mail will be
familiar with NHS jargon or even words that are local to
your area – this is the world wide web and you should
consider that not all readers will be familiar with your
workplace culture. Provide a brief description of any
term or idea that may be unfamiliar to members of your
audience and what ever you do – do not use text speak or
Net Shorthand in the body of your messages , for example
do not use acronyms like IMHO (In My Humble Opinion),
WAYTA (What Are You Talking About?), or FWIW (For What
It's Worth). Using acronyms may confuse or slow down
others' ability to understand your posting.
5
Watch your language
DO NOT use words that could be considered sexist,
racist, ageist, and any other perspective that reflects
insensitivity, prejudice, and bias based on ignorant
disrespect.
And do not swear in your e-mails. Remember using
offensive language is against the code of behaviour.
6
Be nice! Prevent a "flame" from developing into a
firestorm
A "flame" is an online posting that takes a particularly
nasty, mean-spirited tone. For better or worse, many
people will say things online that they would never say
to someone in a face-to-face situation.
Never criticise a person online; instead, offer an
alternative perspective on what the person has written.
Personal attacks inhibit communication by raising
everyone's defenses.
Try to ignore others' attempts to antagonise. If you take
offense to something online, express your feelings calmly
to the appropriate person -- preferably by private email, rather than in a public forum. Do not respond by
‘reply all’ or you will be as guilty of fanning the
flame.
If you feel that the behaviour is not a one off or if the
behaviour falls in to the realm of racism, sexism or is
threatening then follow your tackling bullying policy and
alert your line manager or consult a confidential contact
as appropriate.
7
DON’T USE ALL CAPITALS
Using capitals is the equivalent of shouting on line,
rather if you need to emphasise a point use an asterix
(*) before and after the word you want to stress
Look at the following example
_
*I* said that we should all go to meeting room 1 for this
discussion.
I said that we should *all* go to meeting room 1 for this
discussion.
I said that we should all go to *meeting room 1* for this
discussion.
8
Be cautious when using humor (especially sarcasm)
This is one of the most common occasions for offense and
misunderstanding in online communication. Not everyone
will understand that you are trying to be funny.
Use "emoticons" to express your emotions online
Emoticons (icons that express emotions) may strike some
people as unnecessary or silly, but they have a very
valid purpose
in online communication. Since we cannot see others'
facial expressions in most online situations, these icons
can provide important information about a person's
intentions when writing something. The most commonly used
emoticon is sometimes called a "smiley"-  ; - ) . You
can create the first smiley by typing a colon followed by
a dash and a right-facing parenthesis.
A "winking smiley" is often used after someone makes a
wry joke, and wants to be certain that a reader "hears"
the ironic tone, simply substitute the colon for a semicolon.
9
Be patient, and be polite
Everyone online has a different level of technical
experience or accessibility. Everyone online has a
different level of familiarity with the language being
spoken or the topic under consideration.
Be polite and be patient with one another. Expect that
there will be misunderstandings in online communication,
and make every effort to resolve misunderstandings
quickly and courteously.
10
Finally, Use e-mail responsibily
It’s tempting to send out a flurry of instructions and
requests but remember your responsibility for a task
doesn’t always end by pressing the send button.
Remember not everyone checks and deals with their e-mails
in the same way.
Also do not be tempted to send round robin e-mails or
pass on ‘Friday Funny’s’ – check your e-mail use policy
and stick to the rules.
Think about the individuals receiving the e-mails and
deadlines you may have set – are they realistic? You do
not want to be a cyber bully , someone who dumps work and
forgets the individual, so pick up the phone and alert
people when a lot of communications and ‘to do’s’ are set
to come there way. Remember e-mail is just one of our
communication tools, where you can, pick up the phone or
meet for a chat – don’t forget the human.