Netiquette
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Netiquette – Internet Etiquette
o Understanding netiquette, or Internet etiquette, will keep you from
making an electronic faux pas and will enable you to tell when
others do.
o Netiquette is as close as the Internet comes to having rules.
Electronic Communications
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Keep paragraphs and messages short and to the point.
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Focus on what subject per message and always include a pertinent
subject title for the message, that way the user can locate the message
quickly.
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Don’t use academic networks (like Spectrum’s, or the U of M’s) for
commercial/personal or proprietary work.
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Include your signature at the bottom of email messages.
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Capitalize words only to highlight an important point or to distinguish a title
or heading.
o *Asterisks* surrounding a word can also be used to make a
stronger point.
o Capitalizing whole words that are not titles is generally termed as
SHOUTING!
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Limit line length and avoid control characters (non-language characters).
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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.
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Be professional and careful what you say about others. Email is easily
forwarded.
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Cite all quotes, references and sources and respect copyright and license
agreements.
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Cite all quotes, references and sources and respect copyright and license
agreements. HIIIII!!!!!! I’m SHOUTING AT YOU!!!!!!!!! (This is a couple
from Emma, see. I cited it. That’s correct Netiquette!)
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It is considered extremely rude to forward personal email to other users
without the original
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Acronyms can be used to abbreviate when possible:
o Examples (some of these you definitely know)
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IMHO= in my humble opinion/ honest opinion
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FYI= for your information
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BTW= by the way
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Flame = antagonistic criticism
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:-) = happy face for humor
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However, messages that are filled with acronyms can be confusing and
annoying to the reader.
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i.e. FYI IMHO I FLAME newbie’s who don’t RTFM.
Capitalization
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These folks are newbies (or new users) and should be treated gently.
Emoticons, Emoji, & Smileys
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Emoticons – Symbols that stand for emotive content
o A.K.A. Emoji or Smileys
Emoticon Exampls
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:-)
The “sarc-mark.”
Flaming
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Flaming is an often-angry, mean-spirited attack on another person via
email.
Subject Headings
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Subject Headings are a short description of what the email is regarding.
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ALWAYS be as descriptive as possible in the space provided
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NEVER leave your subject heading blank.
Message & Signature Length
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There’s nothing wrong with sending a long message per se.
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You want to be sure of two things:
o Your recipient(s) will actually want to read the whole message
o That you let them know in the subject line that it is a long message.
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