Survival
Guide
| Netiquette
Netiquette
What's
expected in COOLSchool?
by Josh Hough
What is "netiquette?"
Basically it's an abbreviation of "network etiquette." The word etiquette
comes from a French word that also gives us the English word "ethics."
It refers to a commonly accepted code 
suggesting
the proper way to behave. Netiquette is a set of guidelines for good,
constructive communication on the Internet. It's based on the assumption
that most people would rather make friends than enemies, and that observing
a few basic rules will prevent the kind of mistakes that make enemies
(or at least get people annoyed). So, here are some general principles
to keep in mind as you communicate around COOLSchool:
Always
title your message with a descriptive, unique subject line.
Readers most often look at the subject line to determine what a particular
message is about. It is often the only thing a recipient sees until
they click to open the message. If your subject line simply says "A
question" or "My thoughts" or "I need help," your audience will probably
be less motivated to read it. Be as specific and creative as you can
be in five words or less. When responding to a particular discussion
topic, don't change the subject line unless you want to start a new
topic. That way it's much easier to group related messages together
in a single "thread."
Note:
Web expert Jakob Nielsen has some useful advice about writing subject
lines at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/980906.html.
Stay
on-topic. Don't use a discussion forum to send jokes, solicitations,
or anything that doesn't help to explore the subject of the class.
When you
reply to someone else's message, it's a good idea to quote the
portion of the message that is most relevant, but not the entire message.
Many e-mail programs quote automatically, but they include the entire
original message in the reply. When this happens, you can erase any
parts that aren't relevant. You can insert your own comments either
above or below the quoted portion, but they will be easier to find
at the top. The same goes for forwarding a message to someone. And
any time you quote, identify who wrote it.
Also,
when you reply to someone's message in an online discussion,
make sure it will be of interest to the whole group. If it only applies
to one person, send the message privately and don't clog up the discussion
with irrelevant chatter. And never send a reply just to say "I agree"
or "That is so true." If you really want to express your support,
explain why you agree, or add an idea that hasn't been mentioned.
Don't
type in ALL-CAPS unless you want to emphasize a particular
word. Typing whole sentences in all-caps makes them less readable
and is generally interpreted as shouting.
(NOTE:
You can also emphasize certain words by enclosing them in *asterisks*
or _underscores_. These are useful because in most cases e-mail doesn't
allow italics, underlines or other text-styling.)
Don't
use any language that could be interpreted as obscene, harassing
or abrasive.
Always
read through your message carefully before you send it. Although
e-mail is a more informal method of communication than writing a letter,
it is also more easily misunderstood. Readers may often be left trying
to guess at what you were really thinking when you rattled off a hasty
remark. Don't write like you speak in everyday conversation. Don't
use a lot of slang and nonsense-speech like "um," "uh," "or whatever,"
"and stuff," and don't ramble on. Try to determine how your message
will be interpreted by a person who can't see or hear you.
Use a
spelling-checker if possible. Good, clean spelling is essential
to getting your point across with a minimum of the reader's effort.
Polished words may seem pointless when you're just typing e-mail.
However, when people see you're an intelligent person, they will take
you seriously and value your contribution. If they're not going to
take you seriously, you might as well spend your time doing something
else. If your e-mail program doesn't check spelling -- or you're in
a Web discussion -- you can type your messages in a word processing
program, then copy and paste them into your e-mail. Even better than
the best spelling checker, though, is good proofreading.
FREE add-on spelling-checkers:
For Windows:
For Macintosh:
Use "emoticons"
when you want to convey a certain attitude. These can help your audience
to understand the context of a statement. The "smiley" is the most
common: :o) Or the winking smiley: ;o) These are especially useful
when you're making a joke that might be interpreted as rude without
the help of vocal intonations and body language. Remember: even if
you're smiling in real life, your audience cannot see that by your
writing. There are many emoticons for many different expressions.
See http://members.aol.com/bearpage/smileys.htm.
Keep in
mind that whatever you write in an e-mail could become publicly and
permanently available on the Internet -- even to people you
might want to keep it away from. Any message can be forwarded to a
third person, either purposely or accidentally. It could even be copied
and pasted onto a web page. Therefore, it's a good idea not to write
anything that could embarrass you or someone else when read by the
wrong person. Don't put anything into an e-mail that you wouldn't
put on a postcard.
Try to
keep your communication brief and to the point. If your message
is exceedingly long, your audience will not want to read all of it,
because most people don't have a lot of time. Some readers are in
a hurry and just need to get the main idea. They might only read some
parts of your message, or skim it quickly. If you need to write about
something in great depth, be sure that is what the reader expects.
Don't
send file attachments to someone's e-mail address if they are
larger than about 50 K (51,200 bytes) without asking them beforehand
if it's okay. The larger the attachment, the more time the recipient's
computer will require to download it, which becomes more troublesome
with slower connection speeds. (Also remember that file attachments
do not work on most discussion groups.) To estimate the download time
for a certain file size and connection speed, use the Download Time
Calculator: http://www.jsr.communitech.net/dlcalc.htm.
Only send
plain-text messages. Some e-mail programs send styled-text
messages by default (HTML or RTF), which creates a problem for most
of the world's e-mail users, who use text-only programs. Make sure
your e-mail program is set for plain-text messages (also called ASCII).
Styled-text messages are also larger in size and consume more bandwidth.
NOTE: "Bandwidth" is the amount of data that a computer or
network can transfer over a certain period of time, which is related
to connection speed (see previous paragraph).
If you
want to show someone a web page you found, just send the page's
address (such as http://www.COOLSchool.k12.or.us).
Sending the whole contents of the page can be more of an inconvenience
than a help. Beginning the address with "http://" will make it a clickable
link in most e-mail programs. If the address is longer than one line,
it may get broken into pieces. Enclosing it in angle brackets (< >)
will usually keep it together as one clickable link.
Avoid
using acronyms like "BTW" (by the way) or "IMHO"
(in my humble opinion), as many readers don't understand what they
mean. If someone uses one of these you don't recognize, a list of
many common Internet acronyms can be found at E-mail
and Online Chat Acronyms.
If someone
sends a message specifically to you, don't forward it to a
discussion group unless you have the author's permission.
If you're
inclined to point out someone else's mistake, do it privately
and not publicly. Be as gentle as you can. If the recipient interprets
your message as excessively critical or takes it personally, that
may defeat the purpose of pointing out the mistake in the first place.
Give people the benefit of the doubt and assume they don't know any
better. Conversely, if someone corrects you, accept it graciously,
even if you think the person is being excessively critical. In online
discussions, it is best not to complain about someone else's behavior
until it becomes a repeating pattern.
Try not
to be offended by something a person wrote. Most of the time
it was not intended to cause any offense. And if it was, you should
contact your teacher and let them take care of it. If you respond
directly to the person who offended you, make sure your message doesn't
go to the whole group.
