Netiquette
Mr. Ellsworth
Netiquette
Netiquette - Internet Etiquette
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 Internet has to
have a few mutually agreed upon guidelines to
efficiently manage resources and maintain group
harmony.
Chaos reigns in some corners of the Internet, but
it's in your best interest to be a solid, upstanding
netizen.
Electronic Communications
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 Spectrum's, or the
U of M’s) for commercial or proprietary work.
Include your signature at the bottom of email
messages.
Electronic Communications
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 characters (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.
Electronic Communications
Cite all quotes, references and sources and respect
copyright and license agreements. HIIII!!!! I’m
SHOUTING AT YOU!!! (This is a quote from Emma,
see. I cited it. That’s correct Netiquette!)
It is considered extremely rude to forward personal
email to other users 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.
Electronic Communications
Acronyms can be used to abbreviate when possible:
Examples (some of these you definitely know):
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.
Capitalization
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.
Emoticons, Emoji, &
Smileys
Emoticons - Symbols that stand for emotive content.
Also called Emoji or Smileys
It's very difficult to tell what the true intent of a line of
text is in email.
In the virtual world, there are no facial movements or
changes in tone that can make a derogatory comment
into a friendly joke.
Emoticons, Emoji, &
Smileys
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.
Emoticon Examples
•
:-) 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
The “sarc-mark.”
The use of sarcasm is a frequent source of confusion
and trouble for those participating in online
discussions.
So much so, some advocates say, we need a new
punctuation mark to indicate when we are speaking
sarcastically.
Hence the newest punctuation mark: the "sarc-mark."
But as opposed to the familiar emoticon, the sarcmark comes with a price: $1.99 USD to be exact!
Read more about it at: Sarc-Mark.com.
Flaming
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:
A quick move to judgment.
A sadistic temperament.
Maybe the person is simple a jerk.
The feeling of anonymity.
The Internet gives users the feeling that they can
say whatever they want.
Flaming
Unfortunately, there is little you can do when you
have been flamed.
Responding with a flame 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.
Flaming is the original cyber-bullying, which we will
talk about later on.
Subject Headings
Subject Headings are a short description of what the
email is regarding.
I cannot emphasize enough here the importance of a
good subject heading for your message.
ALWAYS
Try to be as descriptive as possible in the space
provided in your subject heading.
NEVER
Leave your subject heading blank.
Write subject headings with non-descriptive titles like
"Internet" or "Hi!"
Message & Signature
Length
There's nothing wrong with sending a long message
per se.
You want to be sure of two things:
Your recipient(s) will actually want to read the whole
message.
That you let them know in the subject line that it is a
long message
i.e., "Subj: Yearly Finance Report - *Long*"
i.e., “Subj: Breaking Up With You - *Long*”
Message & Signature
Length
With signature files, you generally want to stick with
the ten line rule to keep your messages shorter.
Adding a couple of extra lines is no great sin, but
more than that drives some people nuts.
Along with your contact info, you may wish to
include a favorite quote or saying.
This is fine; don’t overdo it.