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SSC LYRIS email List Netiquette PageAccording to Wikipedia, "Netiquette, a portmanteau of "network etiquette", is the convention on electronic forums (Usenet, mailing lists, live chat, and Internet forums) to facilitate efficient interaction." The following is an informal compilation of information about email and listserv netiquette from the web. The original source link is given from the time the excerpts were culled. ListservsSource: http://vygotsky.ced.appstate.edu/hypertel/listservs.htm Why use Listservs?
Advantages of Listservs
Disadvantages of Listservs
Listserv Etiquette
From the USC SiteSource: http://cot.mccneb.edu/jbridgham/listserv_etiquette.htm The following information was retrieved from USC but is appropriate for all list users. In the tradition of list owners everywhere, USC is posting a list of recommendations for good manners when participating in lists. In the tradition of the Internet, we have appropriated other’s hard work for this list. Credit goes to Peter Milbury and Mike Eisenberg, co-owners of the LM-NET listserv for School Library Media Specialists and to Jennifer Chandler, University of South Carolina College of Library and Information Science. NETWORK ETIQUETTEWhen sending messages to LISTSERV, please keep the following suggestions in mind. They will help keep the group user-friendly for everyone: Please include a subject line in each posting (it’s a good idea for ALL e-mail). Keep each line in your message shorter than 70 characters. Longer lines can cause problems with some e-mail systems. Do not include lines consisting only of "=" signs, since they too cause some systems problems except for the one that most mail programs generate after your header and before your message. When replying to another message, try to refrain from quoting entire messages. Paraphrasing or quoting selectively are both kinder to people’s eyes and e-mail boxes. At the end of your message, include your name and your electronic mail address (this is your electronic "signature".) Because it can be difficult to interpret e-mail addresses, you are encouraged to include your institutional affiliation. Long signatures are discouraged. They may be humorous the first time, but get old quickly (and take up valuable net bandwidth and computer space). Some folks tire of the time spent having to skim over them. 2-4 lines should be sufficient to include any necessary information. Remember most lists are not forums for a/social comment. Be extremely careful when replying to the author of a list message. The USC e-mail systems will send your reply to the entire list if you simply use a reply command. If you really want to send to the entire list do so. Think before you post. Do I really want to say this to the world (list)? Reread what you wrote. Did you really say what you intended to? Once a message is sent, it can’t be retrieved. Flames: a "flame" is an emotionally charged posting, and is often directed at someone. Be sure you really want to post it, and remember than some lists don’t tolerate flames. To signal humorous intent, use some sort of "smiley", such as :-). Facetiousness and sarcasm can be misunderstood easily in electronic communication. Replies to requests for information. Some large lists have a policy of sending information privately to the requester. The requester then summarizes to the list. This can cut down on traffic, but it tends to reduce the "give and take" that some lists value. Please be considerate of others. Through inexperience or limited local software, list members may inadvertently violate the above suggestions. A private message to the offender from an experienced friend or from the list owners is more appropriate than a public flame. Please participate! Your ideas are important. Just because you think everyone knows something doesn’t mean they do. If you’re not sure, send the posting to an experienced friend on the list (or the list owner) to see if the information may be valuable. This list has its own character, just like any "real" grouping of people (such as a party, or a meeting). The list functions best when people respect the character of the list. It’s also good to respect the differences among list members and have a certain tolerance for our individual eccentricities. DON’T SHOUT-unless you really mean it. The use of all uppercase letters is considered shouting, and therefore rude. Part of the problem with all caps is that it is harder to read than mixed case. The other problem is that since facial expression and tone of voice are missing from electronic communication, some way to express strong opinions (both positive and negative) is needed, so ALL CAPS has been designated. Some common abbreviations found in mail notices are: FWIW => for what it’s worth; GOK => God only knows; HHOK => Ha, ha - only kidding; HHOS => Ha, ha - only serious; IMHO => In my humble opinion; LOL => laughing out loud; OTOH => on the other hand. http://novel.nifl.gov/nifl-health/1998/0408.html Just a few reminders about etiquette on the listserv from Marcia Hohn, List Co-moderator -- just back from vacation! 1. When sending thank yous or special messages to particular individuals on the list, please address the message directly to the individual's email address, not the whole listserv. 2. However, if you are discussing or giving information about something that is likely to be of general interest, then do post or reply to the whole list. Sometimes I think we lose valuable input to individual email conversations. It's a judgement call - Perhaps one way it could be handled is to indicate to the list what you may be discussing with 1 or more others and ask folks to contact you directly if interested in that particular issue. 3. Do be careful about inadverdently sending very private messages to the entire list. It's easy to hit that reply button and post messages to the whole list that were confidential and private in nature. Send private messages directly to individual email addresses. http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/wjh/newsgrp.shtml A Quick Guide to Newsgroup Etiquette Most people have lots of questions when they first start using the resources of the Internet. In fact, most people have the SAME questions. And while the average experienced user doesn't mind answering a few questions, they tend to get very tired of answering the SAME questions again and again. For this reason, it's often best to know a little something about the resources you're using before you just jump right in, so here goes... This document is a revised version of the Harvard Computer Society <http://hcs.harvard.edu>'s Netiquette FAQ, which was created by Rachel Kadel. Keep in mind... Be familiar with the group you are posting to before you post! One normally does not join a conversation by just walking up and talking. Instead, you listen first and then join in if you have something pertinent to contribute. If you have a question to ask, first consider if it's something you can find out by reading the appropriate manual or asking someone. Many newsgroups have a compiled list of Frequently Asked Questions, or a FAQ. If you don't see the FAQ posted, most FAQs are archived at ftp.rtfm.edu. Think twice before you post personal information about yourself or others. Your boss, roommate, professor, or Aunt Sally may be reading this group. Keep your posts easy to read. Make frequent paragraph breaks. Make an effort to spell and punctuate correctly. THIS IS INTERPRETED AS SHOUTING. IT'S ALSO HARD TO READ. Use all-caps sparingly. Remember that this is a purely written medium of communication; the world's entire impression of you is based on what they read. When you are following up someone's article, please summarize the parts of the article to which you are responding. This allows readers to appreciate your comments rather than trying to remember what the original article said. Summarizing on usenet is generally done by quoting excerpts of the original post. Quoted material is usually indicated by > marks at the beginnings of lines. Your newsreading application most likely will do this for you. Don't post the same message separately to multiple usenet groups. This is known as spamming, and will result in the wrath of the net falling upon your head. (You think I'm joking. I'm not.) If your post is relevant to multiple newsgroups, then you can put the names of the newsgroups you want to post to, separated by commas, in the Newsgroups: header of your message. This is known as cross-posting, and should be done sparingly. Some "Net Jargon"... Criticism on the 'net is known as flaming. Making a flamboyant and unjustified statement and posting it to the world will probably result in a number of people flaming you; that is, responding to tell you just how obnoxious you are. Sometimes you might read or be told "RTFM!" RTFM stands for Read the F*****g Manual, and is used when someone asks an overly simple question that is answered in their computer manual or in the FAQ of that particular newsgroup. There is a site called rtfm.mit.edu, where FAQs are archived. Just so you know that this subject has been in the news, here is an excerpt from a recent issue of Newsweek about Miss Manners' guide for behavior on the Internet: E-mail, on the other hand, " is the best means of communication since the Pony Express," says [Judith] Martin [aka Miss Manners]. For one thing, it's demure: "You don't have to disturb people the way you do when using a phone or fax." But bear in mind that e-mail is less private--and less formal--than other means of communication. Don't drop emotional bombs such as "You're fired" or "I'm pregnant" electronically. Also, "Dear sir" is too formal a salutation for e-mail, Martin says. She'd prefer that you use the recipient's name followed by a dash. In most cases, an ill-mannered e-mail message will annoy only its recipient. Elsewhere in cyberspace, however, it's possible to simultaneously slight thousands of people--and it may be tempting, too, given the relative anonymity afforded by the Internet. Any attempt to achieve something approaching decorum in this vast, unregulated free-for-all is probably doomed from the start. But that has not deterred the practitioners of what is called, inevitably, netiquette (outrageous puns are a special form of bad manners, but let it pass). Arlene Rinaldi runs a Web site (www.fau.edu/rinaldi/netiquette.html <http://www.fau.edu/rinaldi/netiquette.html>) devoted to helping others avoid the pitfalls she encountered when she first hit the Net in 1990. "I made every mistake imaginable," she says. A few basics: Then again, we may want to think twice about getting too polite. If the next century brings back civility, a backlash may not be far behind. "People will say, 'How come we can't go back to being ourselves'," Miss Manners predicts. "Fortunately I won't have to be around for the turn of the 21st century." Hamilton, Kendall and Stacy Sullivan. "Netiquette: A Guide to Manners in the New Age." Newsweek, 1 Sept. 1997, pg. 14. That's about it...follow these guidelines and you shouldn't have a problem. Happy news-reading! William James Hall Computer Services http://www.gweep.bc.ca/~edmonds/usenet/ml-etiquette.html Mailing List Etiquette FAQCopyright (c) 1996-1998, Brian Edmonds $Revision: 1.10 $ $Date: 1998/10/16 13:50:50 $ This document may be freely retransmitted in Usenet or email; permission to reproduce in any other media should be requested from the author, Brian Edmonds <brian@gweep.bc.ca <mailto:brian@gweep.bc.ca>>. The latest edition of this FAQ can be found on the web at: http://www.gweep.bc.ca/~edmonds/usenet/ml-etiquette.html send mail to majordomo@gweep.bc.ca <mailto:majordomo@gweep.bc.ca> with the following line in the body: get faq ml-etiquette.txt There have been a number of documents written about netiquette, most of them quite good, and this FAQ will probably seem to some to be little more than a retelling of an old story. Those that I know of are listed below, and I gratefully acknowledge both their instruction and their inspiration in writing this FAQ. Primarily this is aimed towards subscribers to the mailing lists which I run personally, but I would like to think that it should apply equally to most any other list. If you run a mailing list, and would like to send new members copies, or include links to this in your list web page, please do. Sources from news.announce.newusers: Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette <http://www.clari.net/brad/emily.html> A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet/primer/part1> Rules for posting to Usenet <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet/posting-rules/part1> Contents Contents How do I post to the list?When you subscribed, you probably received an information file about the list. Included in this information is usually the mail address to which posts should be mailed. Typically, if you contacted the address wilma-request@mail.server.site to subscribe to the group, then the posting address will be wilma@mail.server.site. Or, if you contacted a LISTSERV or Majordomo server at mail.server.site to subscribe to the list betty, then the list address will likewise be betty@mail.server.site. When replying to messages you receive from the list, you should acquaint yourself with the reply options of your mail reader. Most mail programs will have at least two reply modes: private and group. A private reply will go only to the person who sent the original message. A group reply by default should go to the original author, the list, and to any people who received private copies of the original message. You should be able to edit this list of addresses to reduce it to just the list address, plus any other people you think should receive private copies. Please make sure that your postings have a meaningful subject line, as many people use this to help determine which posts to read and which to ignore when they're operating under time constraints. If you're replying to a message and the topic of your reply is drifting from the original subject, then edit it. A common convention is to change a subject of ``Wilma's hair'' to ``Betty's hair (was Wilma's hair)'' when you do this to provide continuity between the threads. Try to snip off any obsolete ``was'' bits though, or subject lines can get unmanageably long. Finally, do not use deceptive subject lines that you think may help attract attention. It may work once or twice, but like the boy who cried wolf, if you keep wasting people's time in this way, they'll soon start ignoring your posts entirely. Honesty, clarity and conciseness are the best policy when composing your subject line. Is there anything I should not post to the list? The basic rule is that as long as your post has some content related to the primary subject of the list, and does not contain much off-topic material, then it is fine for the list. Specifically, for almost every list, this will immediately rule out many or all commercial ads, postings on how to make money (such as MAKE MONEY FAST), sociology surveys, help with homework, hot international news, and requests for people to send birthday greetings to your friend. Also, you should not post inflammatory (aka flame) mail to the list. It is perfectly fine to disagree with people publicly, but be careful how you do it. For example, if you think someone is lying on a subject, it may be fine to say ``Betty's claims about Wilma's hair stylist are a lie,'' but it is over the line to say ``Betty is a liar''. On the flip side, if someone posts something with which you are in particular agreement, that's great. You should not, however, follow up to the list with a post containing no more than ``Me too!'' or ``Right on, brother!'' If you have something of substance to add to the discussion, then by all means do so, but if you simply wish to express a simple agreement, then do it in private mail. You should not post subscribe or unsubscribe requests to the list. They won't do any good there, and will do little more than annoy other subscribers (unless they're filtered out by the list server, in which case they will only annoy the list owner: not exactly a winning move either). When you subscribe to the list, you should receive a file explaining among other things, how to unsubscribe: keep this! If worst come to worst, and you really cannot figure out how to leave the list, contact the list owner and ask (politely) for help. You should also not repost private email to the list unless you have obtained prior consent from the author. Such reposting is at best considered extremely rude, and in some legal jurisdictions may be a violation of copyright, or other rights of the original author. See also the related section on binaries and other large files. Are there any important formatting considerations? Visual formatting is very important in a textual medium like email. If your postings are poorly formatted, they will be hard to read, and people will tire of them quickly. As a result, fewer people will read what you write to the end, and many will begin to skip your posts entirely. Most importantly, learn to use the enter (or return) key on your keyboard. The video display width of many network users is limited to 80 columns, and text which wraps beyond that length is quite a bit more difficult to read. Since your text may be indented when quoted by others you should keep your lines to a maximum length somewhere below that point -- around 70 characters is a good target. There are of course exceptions, such as wide tables, and long URLs, but the rule is to keep it well under 80. Be careful if you use a program which wraps your posts when you send them. If you wrap at a wider column than it does, you may end up with alternating long and short lines where it wraps one or two words from each long line, but fails to join them to the next. If you know that your software operates this way, you may be best off to simply write each paragraph as one long line, and let it do all the wrapping. Be very sure that this is the case though, as postings that come through with really long, single line paragraphs are also annoying to read. Wrapping at a considerably narrower margin, such as 40 characters is also more difficult to read, as one must page down much more often. However, don't be afraid to use blank lines to separate your paragraphs, and do break your text into paragraphs. In fact, keeping paragraphs fairly short is also easier to read; around ten lines is a good upper limit. Be careful when using tabs for indenting, as they will display differently on other platforms. Also, avoid control characters and other fancy visual effects which are likely platform specific. When composing (and reading) mail, you're best to stick with a mono-spaced font (as opposed to proportionally spaced), and avoid anything other than the most basic text you can use to get your message across. Is properly grammer and speeling imprtnt, d00dz? Like formatting, grammar and spelling are also very important in a textual medium. One author, whose name I have forgotten, has compared posting material containing glaring grammar and spelling mistakes with being dirty and unkempt in personal contacts. In any case, your postings reflect on you, so you should be proud of them. Also keep in mind, that with the proliferation of network indexing services, it is becoming easier all the time to quickly compile a personality profile of a network user based on what he or she posts, both to Usenet, and (currently to a lesser extent) on mailing lists. Be aware that your friends, family, romantic interests, and employers (current and future) will all have access to this information. Again, others will judge you based on both what you say, and how you say it, so give each posting careful thought. On the flip side, it is generally not worthwhile to publicly correct the spelling or grammar in something written by someone else. For many users on the net, English is not their first language, and even for some for whom it is, they may have disabilities which prevent them from using it as easily as others. Some people will appreciate correction, and take it as a learning experience, but it should always be done via private mail (never publicly), and you should tread carefully. Finally, do use punctuation, and put spaces in the right places around it. Also, use capitalization properly (NO SHOUTING, please), and avoid using short forms such as dropping vowels, or substituting 4/for, u/you, r/are and so on. Such practices might make things easier for you, but it makes deciphering your writing that much harder for everyone else who you're expecting to read it. You can make an exception for smilies and common acronyms, such as OTOH, YMMV, BTW, and such, but don't overdo it, and be careful not to confuse your audience. In short, to borrow from the informal guideline given in many network protocols: be conservative in what you produce and liberal in what you accept. How long can I make my .sig? Ideally it should be as short as possible while still getting across whatever you feel is important that it contain. The very best .sig of all is probably just a single line with your name and email address. Remember that while an ASCII graphic or witty saying may be cool the first time, it's going to be boring by the time someone sees it five times, and if it's large enough to attract the eye, will get annoying very quickly. Unlike news, where space is relatively cheap, so larger sigs are more forgivable, and four lines or more is typically the norm, mailing lists feed into a person's private mailbox. Thus, each subscriber is paying for every byte you send them, so if too much of that is a .sig which contains no useful information, but is just repeated over and over, many people will quickly start to feel less favourably inclined towards your contributions to the list. Should I ``crosspost'' to multiple lists? Almost always, the answer to this is no. Most mailing lists are topically disjoint, and there is very little that is equally appropriate for posting to a number of them. It can also be annoying, as usually subscribers will get a copy of your message for each list they're on that you post to -- more than two or three of those and you can have a lot of annoyed people knocking on your mailbox. That said, there may be some occasional instances where it would be appropriate to post to a number of lists at once. If you think this is the case, then you should probably contact the owner of each list and make sure that they agree before proceeding. Can I post binaries, or other large files to the list? Almost always, the answer to this is no. Mail sent to mailing lists is going into subscribers' private mailboxes, some of which are not set up to handle really large pieces of mail. Typically, you should put large files up on an ftp or web site, and then post an announcement to the list with instructions on how to access the files. If you do not have access to ftp or web facilities, contact the owner of the list, and she or he may be able to help you out. There may be a few cases where posting such material would be appropriate, but you should definitely contact the list owner first and make sure you have his or her approval before doing so. When replying, should I quote the previous message? Most certainly. You should always provide some context to your replies so that people who may not have been following the thread closely, or who have other things on their minds will easily be able to determine what you're talking about. However, when quoting, be very careful to edit the quoted sections down to the bare minimum of text needed to maintain the context for your reply. There is very little on a mailing list that is more annoying than paging through a few pages of quoted text only to read a few lines at the end. Also be careful that you clearly indicate what text you're quoting (as opposed to what you're writing), and if possible, cite the author of the original text. If your mail program wants to attach the whole message you're replying to on the end of your replies, please do not let it do this if you can possibly avoid it. It is a good thing to include excerpts from previous messages with your replies to maintain a logical flow of discussion, but it is almost always a bad thing to include the entire text of a message being replied to, be it at the start or end of your reply. Should I mail a copy to the person I'm replying to? That depends, but usually the answer is no. Unlike news, where followups may take days to reach the original author, and may sometimes never make it at all, mail service is typically faster and more reliable. Also unlike news, private copies of postings to mailing lists will result in multiple copies arriving in the recipient's mailbox, rather than just one. Unless you have good reason to believe that the person needs your answer as soon as possible, then they'll probably thank you if you stick with just sending it to the list. I've been insulted! How should I respond? Ah, congratulations. You've never been properly welcomed to the net until you've been flamed. Your response can take a number of forms. The first and most important thing you should do is to take a break and cool off. Replies written in the heat of anger are seldom any better than the postings which inspire them. Revenge is a dish best served cold, as they say. Now that you've cooled off, go back and consider the offending material again. If it's nothing but baseless lies and fabrications that no rational person would believe, then the best response is to completely ignore it. If it contains material that you would consider to be of a slanderous or threatening nature, then you may wish to forward a copy to the user's postmaster and request that they have a word with the individual about the proper use of the net. If, on the other hand, the posting contains inaccuracies which you feel need to be addressed, then it is perfectly reasonable to send a followup message which does so. However, the ideal approach is to ignore any hysteria, and stick with the facts. Be reasonable and rational, point out your attacker's errors, and their attack will usually collapse around them. In particular, avoid any personal attacks on an individual's intelligence, age, character, etc. At the very least, if you cultivate a reputation of being level-headed, then most people will gladly give you the benefit of the doubt over a knee-jerk flamer. The final option is to flame them in return, but be very careful when deciding on this course of action. Well crafted flames are a thing of beauty, but are extremely difficult to write. The ultimate goal of a flame should be that the recipient know deep in his or her heart that s/he has been terribly insulted, but s/he should not consciously be able to figure out why s/he feels this way. My posting hasn't shown up on the list! What do I do? Probably, just be patient. Sometimes the list server will be off-line, or be too busy with other things to deal with your mail right away. Also, some lists are restricted to posts by subscribers only, and if the address you post from does not match the one you're subscribed under, your posting may be delayed for approval by the list owner. If the list owner is away or busy, then it may be some time before your message gets approved. If a few days go by with no sign of your post, then the next step should be to write the list owner and inquire if there's a problem. Include as much information as you can regarding what your original posting was about. If still nothing has happened after a week, and if your message is still relevant, then it's probably entirely reasonable to post it again. Mail is generally more reliable than news, but things still get lost occasionally. I've been subscribed to the bounces list! What does this mean? This means that your email account has, for at least a short period, been refusing to accept messages from the mailing list. This may happen because your mailbox has filled up (i.e. over quota), or it may be due to system problems at your site, or even network problems beyond local control. Every time a subscriber's mailbox starts bouncing mail, a copy of each posting to the list is returned to the list owner. Even if only a small percentage of addresses on a list are having problems at any one time, for a large and/or busy list this can add up to quite a bit of mail. Some list owners will simply unsubscribe offending accounts from the list, while others will have the option of moving bouncing accounts to a separate list. Majordomo, in particular, supports a bounces list, to which bouncing addresses can be moved, and which will provide a daily reminder to addresses on the list that their status has changed. Included in these reminders are instructions on how to get off of the bounces list, and rejoin whatever list(s) you were originally on. I'm not getting any mail from the list! What's wrong! Well, most likely this simply means that no one is posting anything. If you've got something to say, then post it and see if you can start up the discussion again. Do not, however, send a ``test message'' to the list, as it's unlikely that all the subscribers want to receive such junk mail. It's perfectly reasonable for a list to be dormant for long periods between bursts of traffic, as not all topics can be interesting all the time. On the other hand, it is also possible that you are no longer subscribed to the list, whether due to your mailbox bouncing for too long, or due to some other system error. The easiest way to determine if this is the case is simply to resubscribe to the list. If you're already on the list, then the list server should return a message stating as much; if not, then you're back on the list and the problem is solved. The final possibility is that the list has died, whether this is due to the owner not paying his bills, just getting sick of the whole thing, or some other reason, who knows. In this situation, the best course of action is to attempt to contact the list owner and verify the problem. If it turns out that the list has been shut down on a permanent basis, then you may be able to obtain the old list of subscribers and restart the list yourself. If a full subscriber list is not available, then you'll have to contact everyone you knew from the list and decide where to go from there. I've got a problem not answered here! What do I do? Your best resource is the list owner. If you do not actually know who that is, for a list named wilma@mail.server.site, typically mail to either owner-wilma@mail.server.site or wilma-owner@mail.server.site will reach the list owner. If neither of these work, then contact postmaster@mail.server.site and inquire how to reach the owner of the list. Brian Edmonds <http://www.gweep.bc.ca/~edmonds/>, October 16, 1998 Mailing list netiquetteSource: http://www.hbg.psu.edu/iit/etiq.htm When you use a mailing list (also called a discussion list), hundreds of people will read your message. When you reply to a message from a mailing list, the biggest mistake people make is forgetting that hundreds of people will read their reply. IF MAILING LISTS ARE NEW TO YOU, DON'T HIT THE REPLY BUTTON WHEN YOU RECEIVE A MESSAGE FROM THE LIST! The Capital College has been communicating over a growing number of listservs, including faculty, staff, division, and committee lists. Because of the sheer volume of mail we receive, not only within the college, but also concerning our own duties and interests, many of the college's faculty and staff receive close to 100 email messages a day, if not more. Although there are no "written laws" of the Internet, there is implied etiquette, or often referred to as netiquette. When we send messages to individuals, or to a campus or college Listserv, each of us should keep five main guidelines in mind. (1.) If you send a message in all caps (UPPER CASE) it is assumed that the user sending the message is shouting. This can be offensive to the recipient. (2.) Messages sent to a Listserv should pertain to the particular Listserv. Users should not send personal messages, or messages that don't pertain to the campus or college to the Listserv. Many people consider receiving a message that doesn't apply to them "junk" email. Most users find it annoying. This also adds to the congestion on the Internet. (3.) Attachments should NOT be sent to Listservs unless the group is aware that the attachment is being sent. Attachments are automatically placed on the hard drives of the recipient and are not necessarily deleted just by deleting the email message from the mail program. This can "clutter" users hard dives; Sending an attached file implies that the recipient has an application installed on their computer to open the file, which is not always the case; Some people check email at home via modem connection. Receiving an attachment via a modem can sometimes be very slow and an inconvenience. Lastly, viruses can be sent in attached files. (4) When replying to a Listserv message, it is important that you direct your reply to the proper person or group of users you intend your response to go to. When you simply reply to a Listserv message, the whole list will receive your reply. If the original message required you to reply to the list, or if you wished your comments to be seen by the list, then simply use the reply option. If you wish to reply to the originator of the message, make note of the email address of the sender and generate a new message to that user with your comments or reply. We all "goof" once in a while and sometimes we reply to the entire list by accident. When this happens, Listmembers should not exacerbate the problem by replying with a public reprimand to the person who posted in error. Listmembers who truly want to help new users to reply properly should themselves address those messages privately to the individual who misposted in the first place. (5) When generating a reply, users should delete the original message, or just leave segments of the original message, which are being specifically replied to. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact: rcb18@psu.edu. <mailto:rcb18@psu.edu> Email Etiquette for the Class Listserv - Dr. BlakemoreSource: http://www.ipfw.edu/nf1/blakemor/web/elist.htm Please abide by the following rules: Only send messages to the list that pertain to class. Put a heading in all messages. Send private messages directly to the person involved, not to the whole class list. You will not get credit for these messages, and I will send you a message about them if you accidently do this. When replying to someone's message, include a portion of the message, or indicate what message you are referring to. For example, say something like: "When Jane said that she thinks today's reading was really stimulating, I certainly agree . . . " Do not say something like: "I agree," without indicating what you are agreeing to. Please avoid any remarks that might seem rude or insulting to any fellow students or to me. People have been known to write things on email that they would not say in person (this is called Flaming). Be as polite and considerate on email as you would be in person. Also be aware that email is not the same as having conversations in person. In person you can see the other person's expressions, and hear their tone of voice. If you are upset with something I have said or done, see me directly, but don't post such messages to the list. Avoid extremely brief or extremely long messages. Sign your own name and email address at the end of each message. Most programs allow the use of a signature file - set it up if it's available. Use both uppercase and lowercase letters. USING ALL CAPS IS CONSIDERED RUDE - IT IS THE EMAIL EQUIVALENT OF SHOUTING. Return to Dr. Blakemore's home page <http://www.ipfw.edu/nf1/blakemor/web/blakemor.htm> TCS Listserv - Etiquette: Do's & Don'ts, Tips & HintsSource: http://www.aztcs.org/activities/listservtips.html Reduce Reply Quotations - When you respond to a message, please edit your reply to quote only enough of the pertinent message to place your comment in perspective. Most e-mail readers have an option for quoting the previous message in a reply. Then all you have to do is cut out the parts that aren't necessary, and write your reply in the message body. Also note that it is never necessary to send a reply to both the listserv and the sender, because doing so will result in the original sender getting two copies of your reply, since the original sender is already subscribed to the listserv. Proofread - Please proofread your message and look for spelling and grammar errors, since it will be read by more than two hundred members. DO NOT USE ALL CAPS! It will look like you are shouting. Also, review the tone of your message. Ask yourself what your reaction would be if you received it. Look for any areas that might be misunderstood and rewrite these sentences to remove any ambiguity. If you are asking a question, be sure to include details about the problem and specifications, such as model and version numbers. Keep your messages short. Be clear and be polite, but get to the point. Remember, people do not like to read large blocks of text. The Subject Field - Always enter a descriptive phrase in the subject field of the e-mail message. This phrase should give an indication of the message's content. If you have more than one topic, send separate messages for each topic. This allows the recipient to reply separately to each topic and more easily "file" the message under the proper category. Reply Address - When replying to a message, pay attention to where the message is going. Remember, the default reply address is the TCS listserv, and not to the person who wrote the message. Sending a message to the wrong address can be very embarrassing. Long Lines - If the line lengths in your messages are too wide, they become unreadable in many mail readers. Try setting your window to less than 80 characters (72 is a common number), and set the font to a fixed-width font such as Courier. This will insure that your messages can be read on the broadest number of mail-readers and computing platforms. Commercial Messages/Attachments - Commercial messages are not permitted, nor are attachments, except by prior arrangement with the TCS Board of Directors. If you want to send someone an attached file, please do so in a private E-mail message, not by sending it to the listserv. You can also upload the file to a web page or FTP site and post the URL on the listserv. Copyrighted Materials - Do not send copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or have explicit permission from the author to do so. Instead, you should write a short description about the item and post the URL or web address of where the copyrighted material can be found. HTML - Although you may send HTML formatted messages to the listserv, doing so may reduce the number of responses to your message. Many modern e-mail programs (including Eudora, Netscape, and Microsoft products) can produce e-mail messages formatted with fonts, italics, bold, underlining, justification, colors, and even images. Although HTML-formatted messages are the wave of the future, many readers still use plain text e-mail readers, and they will not be able to read your message if it has formatting codes in it. You should note that some e-mail programs may send formatted messages by default. If your e-mail program is setup that way, you will need to turn off that feature before sending a message to the listserv. Listserv EtiquetteSource: http://www.bsu.edu/web/alumni/alumonline/listfaq.html#listetiq Following are some tips and guidelines for making your mailing list more productive and enjoyable. 1. Remember you are interacting with people. 2. Differentiate between public and private messages. 3. Make subject lines descriptive. 4. Edit the original message in your replies. 5. Sign your postings. 6. Be brief. 7. Be cautious with humor and sarcasm. 8. E-mail lists are as good, and only as good, as the subscribers make them. Listserv EtiquetteSource: http://www.caisct.org/members/etiquette.html As a listserv user please keep in mind: as many as 100 people may read a message posted to a CAIS listserv. Not every person will be interested in all the thoughts every other user might have. Therefore: it will matter to your listserv friends - and show your respect for them - if you: Always include a clear and concise "subject" word or phrase in your initial e-mail posting to the listserv, so replies can be followed easily by others in the group. Never post responses to all those on the listserv if your message is really directed just to one person. Misusing the list in this way burdens others with unneeded e-mail. Remember that a listserv message comes to you from a server, not directly from the message's creator. Because of this, your e-mail software will "think" a listserv message's sender is the listserv; thus it will auto-enter the listserv's address - not that of the sender - if you use your "reply" button to respond. Result: if you use "reply," you will be sending your response not just to one person, but to EVERYONE on the listserv! Unnecessary broadcast responses are the most common (and annoying) mistake new listserv users commit. Use your "reply" button ONLY if you really want to send a response to everyone. In all other cases, paste the sender's e-mail address and "subject" at the top of a brand new e-mail message, and send your response to that person only. Keep in mind that listservs are meant to save time - not waste it. Be brief. It is not polite to needlessly include the full text of a received message in every response. (If doing so will be helpful, as may be the case when you are responding to a list of questions, fine. Otherwise, only include the sender's "subject" phrase, or trim the message down to the relevant points to which you are responding.) Also note that your e-mail software may be set up to automatically add the text of a message that you are responding to when you use the "reply" button. If your software is set up this way, just delete the automatically inserted text when it's not really needed. Don't be TOO brief! A micro-response such as "no" or "tell me more," if accompanied by no other information, may not only befuddle your correspondents but sound curt or dismissive. "I agree" is also not considered a polite listserv response; if you don't have something to ADD to a discussion, don't respond. In general, a whole sentence is the minimum polite message. E-mails typed in CAPITALS are generally read as if someone were shouting. Alas, shouting is seldom a genteel way to communicate. Use standard upper / lower case type except for any words / phrases you particularly wish to stress. Always be sure every message you send to a listserv ends with your personal "full signature" or "footer" as part of its text (most desktop e-mail software can be set to automatically do this). A footer or signature should include name, title, school, address / phone, and above all your individual E-MAIL ADDRESS. Why include your e-mail address in "signatures" and "footers?" When you send e-mail to a listserv through online services or some kinds of campus e-mail systems, your individual address may not appear in a recipient's "from" field. (What will appear instead will be the online service's or your e-mail system's "domain" address.) Result: a person who gets your message may not know how to respond directly to you. It is a courtesy to make sure that your correspondents can always do so. Remember that CAIS listservs are private - but professional. Rude or disparaging comments about individuals, groups, or institutions, or profanity, etc., are all unacceptable. Keep in mind that CAIS listservs should not be used for purposes that some might find digressive, excessively personal or irrelevant to professional discourse. Examples of messages which should not be sent: jokes not directly connected to the list's audience; petitions, political exhortations, chain letters and fund-raising circulars; virus warnings. Notify Diane Brewer at CAIS (d_brewer@caisct.org <mailto:d_brewer@caisct.org>) ahead of time if you wish to leave any CAIS list, anticipate a change in your e-mail address, or will not be picking up e-mail for more than two weeks. She should not be burdened with avoidable notifications about "undelivered / undeliverable" messages to list members. Observe these guidelines. Every CAIS listserv user must do so as a condition of participation. A person who abuses or misuses a CAIS listserv will be denied further access. MAILING LIST ETIQUETTESource: http://www.cln.org/coop1/tl/listet.html When you send a message to a list, you may be sending it to dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of readers. As a courtesy to your readers, there are a number of "netiquette" guidelines which you should follow. The guidelines listed below attempt to make sure that list messages are clear, concise, and appropriate. A good idea is to read a lot of list messages before you post many of your own. In this way you will develop an idea of the norms for the lists in which you are interested. is devoid of useful information or ideas;
1. Use informative subject headers. Messages with vague subject lines are much more likely to be deleted without being read. A few common ones are: :-) or :) A smiling face used to indicate amusement :-( or :( An unhappy face ... ;-) A winking face - usually indicates that material should be taken with a grain of salt. <g> "grin" - used to indicate that something is meant to be taken as a joke. {} No comment! BTW By the way FAQ Frequently asked question FWIW For what it's worth FYI For your information IMHO In my "humble" opinion RSN Real soon now RTFM Read the "fine" manual TIA Thanks in advance WRT With respect to; concerning The bottom line is, as David Harris has put it, "Above all else, remember that electronic mail is about communication with other people. When you compose an e-mail message, read it over before sending it and ask yourself what your reaction would be if you received it. Any time spent on making your e-mail clearer is time well-spent, so let's start taking the time." On-line etiquetteSource: http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/savoynet/manners.html On-line etiquette is a recurring topic on most on-line mailing lists and news groups. Although some baseline standards of behavior are reasonably well-established in the on-line community, these are not universally understood and are subject to interpretation. The following guidelines are an attempt to summarize what the author believes to be a consensus of Savoynet members, though it should be understood that there is probably some disagreement about the interpretation, if not the content. Stay on-topic. The subject of Gilbert & Sullivan is amazingly broad and encompasses many cognate subjects. Posts can be humorous, light and entertaining; or, they may be deep, serious and scholarly. But, whatever else they may be, each posting should have a bearing, however tenuous, on the subject of G&S. Keep quoted material to a minimum. You can generally assume that subscribers have read earlier posts. Therefore, you need not quote extensively in your reply. Do so only as much as needed to establish the context for what you want to say. At the very least, edit out saluation and signature lines. Often, you can get along without quoting at all. Eschew frivolous posts. A frivolous post is one which says little more than "I agree," "Me too," or "Wow!" Remember, your post is going to hundreds of people. Many of them have significant time, space or financial limitations on the amount of email they can keep up with. While this should not deter you from making a contribution that you consider meaningful, you should avoid posts that make no perceptible contribution to a discussion. Shun ad hominem attacks. An ad hominem attack is criticism directed at a person rather than an idea. By all means feel free to disagree with any comment posted on Savoynet. But, direct your response to the comment itself, not the person who made it. Be Sensitive to Copyright. Do not post copyrighted material to Savoynet without the copyright owner's permission. Newspaper and magazine articles that you find on the web, for example, are almost surely copyrighted. Feel free to post a link, which others may follow to the source. Read your inbox before replying. If you are behind on your mail, there's a good chance that the comment you're about to make or the answer you're about to supply has already been posted by someone else. Discussion threads take many twists and turns, and it is better to post one contribution to the thread after you've fully caught up, than to reply individually to each message. Remember private email. Not all replies are of general interest. Use private email if your reply is more appropriate to the original poster than to the entire list. Conduct quizzes and surveys by private email. A request that is likely to generate numerous short responses, many of which are likely to be redundant, is best handled by private email. The original poster should specifically ask for email replies in her original message. After replies have tapered off, it is then appropriate to post a consolidated summary to the net. Other WWW-based netiquette resources include: Netiquette, by Arlene H. Rinaldi <http://www.fau.edu/rinaldi/netiquette.html>, selected as being among the top 5% of web sites by Point Communications <http://www.pointcom.com/>. The pages on electronic communications <http://www.fau.edu/rinaldi/net/elec.html> and email discussion groups <http://www.fau.edu/rinaldi/net/dis.html> are especially relevant. The Emily Postnews Guide <http://www.clari.net/brad/emily.html> by Brad Templeton (founder of Clarinet and of the usenet newsgroup rec.humor.funny <news:rec.humor.funny>) is justly regarded as a classic. Net Etiquette <http://www.bookport.com/Publishers/1887164/nqhome.html>, containing excerpts from the book "The Core Rules of Netiquette" by Virginia Shea, which "has been licensed by the Microsoft Corporation for the Microsoft Network." (I am not making this up.) Return to the Savoynet Home Page <index.shtml>. This page maintained by Marc Shepherd <mailto:oakapple@cris.com> 6.9. Social conventions (netiquette)Source: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8d/owner/owner.html#6.9 Like so many other things, network users tend to expend a great deal of virtual gunpowder about the subject of etiquette on the network (otherwise known as netiquette). Part of the culture of the network is built on the fact that an individual user can put forward any face he or she cares to present. Thus over time, the network has evolved various sets of rules that attempt to govern conduct. To avoid taking up a great deal of space arguing the merits of differing systems of netiquette, the following general pointers that should be accepted by most users are offered for the convenience of the list owner. Recognize and Accept Cultural and Linguistic Differences The Internet is international, and while English is generally accepted as the common language of the network, list owners and list subscribers cannot afford to take the position that everyone on the Internet understands English well. In a medium that is invariably connected to language, special understanding is required to deal with questions or statements from people for whom English is not the primary tongue. Often today (at least in the US) a person's first sustained interaction with others on an international basis is via the Internet. It is imperative that this interaction be on the highest level of cordiality and respect from the outset in order for all concerned to benefit. Additionally, care should be taken when using local idiom and slang. A common word or phrase used by Americans in everyday speech, for instance, might be taken as profanity or insult by those in other English-speaking countries, and may not be understood at all by non-native speakers of English. When a list has a high international readership, it is probably best to avoid non-standard English so as to provide the clearest and least-objectionable exchange of ideas. Private Mail Should Dictate Private Responses If someone on a mailing list has sent a private message to you (i.e., not to the list at large) and you have lost that person's address but want to respond, do not post private mail to the list. The REVIEW command will give you a copy of the list membership that you can search for the person's address. If this approach does not work, contact the local postmaster or the list owner for help. Flaming is (Usually) Inappropriate Flames (insults) belong in private mail, if they belong in mail at all. Discussions will often result in disagreements. Rebuttals to another person's opinions or beliefs should always be made in a rational, logical and mature manner, whether they are made publicly or privately. What is a flame can range from the obvious (ranting and raving, abusive comments, etc.) to the not-so-obvious (comments about how many "newbies" seem to be on the list these days, "RTFM!" exhortations, etc.). Foul Language Subscribers should refrain from abusive or derogatory language that might be considered questionable by even the most liberal and open-minded of networkers. If you wouldn't say it in front of your mother, don't say it in electronic mail. Unsolicited Advertising and Chain Letters Most of these are contrary to appropriate use policies governing the use of the poster's Internet access provider. Not only that, they are annoying and (in the case of chain letters) often illegal. See Section 6.10 on the subject of "spamming" for more details. Other Disruptive or Abusive Behavior Self-explanatory. It is rarely possible to catalog all forms of anti-social network behavior. Be sure that you as a list owner cover as many bases as you think necessary when promulgating a code of netiquette for your list. Then -- be sure to adhere to it yourself. How To Deal With Rude PeopleSource: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8d/user/user.html#2.15 The Internet, just like the real world, has its share of rude people. While there isn't much one can do about it, it would be silly to avoid using the Internet simply for fear that someone might insult you in public one day. Sooner or later, it will happen, and the best you can do is to be prepared for this. When it does happen, the only thing you absolutely must not do is whack the "reply" button and send off a stream of insults at your offender - or if you absolutely must, at least make sure that you do so in private. All you would achieve with a stream of insults is what is called a "flame war" in network jargon - dozens of people casting insults at each other, and a very swollen mailbox. Insulting someone on a public list is very much like punching someone in the face in a crowded bar near closing time; don't do it unless you want to get into a fight that could be painful for everyone. Now, of course, you have been insulted and some factually incorrect statements may have been made about you, or your words may have been twisted around to make them sound like you meant exactly the opposite of what you said. A public reply may be appropriate, in much the same way that one would write to the editor of a newspaper and request the publication of a formal reply to "straighten out the facts". The important thing is to avoid content-free messages where no misinformation is corrected, no point is made and all that is ever exchanged is insults. But before you do that, you will want to consider why these people have been rude to you. First of all, make sure the poster did intend to be rude. The Internet connects people from over 50 countries, and many of them are not native English speakers. They may have translated an idiomatic expression literally, and insulted you without meaning to. Similarly, native English speakers may have used a correct idiomatic expression which, when translated literally, sounds very mean in your language. The next thing to consider is where the poster comes from. No matter what your personal opinion on the question may be, there are cultures with a very different definition of what is or is not socially acceptable, and in particular there are cultures where personal attacks are no big deal. While you may think that they should not do anything that hurts your feelings, you probably don't want to get into a cultural flame war, because you are probably hurting other people's feelings as well on a regular basis. For instance, do you always address people by their full name and title, or do you just say "As Peter said yesterday..."? In some countries, it is a grave insult to call people by their first name if you don't know them personally, while in others using the full title can sound sarcastic. There are dozens of similar examples, and the only way to successful cross-cultural communication is to tolerate other people's cultural habits in return for their tolerance of yours. Another point to consider is that, sometimes, people are having meaningful discussions in a tone that appears inappropriate to you, but that may seem perfectly normal to them. As long as their messages contain useful information, there is no point in trying to police the list, both because it is the list owner's job, not yours, and because adults are unlikely to change their behavior in any significant way, especially if the people complaining are new to the list. If you want the list owners to take action, it is better to write to them directly, so that you do not end up being labelled as "one of the people running the flame war". If you just want to publicly express your indignation, it is best to type the message and pause, just before sending it, to consider whether you are doing this in the general interest or for your personal, selfish satisfaction. Most mail programs let you cancel a message. Lastly, if you are new to the Internet please take the time to look through existing resources on netiquette (the rules of etiquette governing on-line communication). Note that among Internet users, a kind of "shorthand" exists which may be confusing at first. One example of this is the term "IMHO", which means "in my humble/honest opinion". Some other examples can be found in Appendix C. You may also encounter symbols called "emoticons", which are used to help define the emotions of the poster while he is writing. Some of the more popular emoticons are found in Appendix B. Information Services ReferencesSource: http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/ref/mailinglistetiquette.html Nebraska Mailing List Etiquette This page maintained by: Lisa Kelly lkelly@nlc.state.ne.us Internet EtiquetteSource: http://www.riverdale.k12.or.us/netrules.html Adapted from Internet Etiquette, by Stan Horwitz (stan@vm.temple.edu) The Internet is a vast community of people from all over the world. In this global electronic community, the only impression other people have of you is based on what you say through your writing and how well you say it. A thorough knowledge of E-mail etiquette will help prevent misunderstandings. The following tips apply to sending any information you write over the Internet (i.e., Usenet, Listserv, and E-mail): Use mixed case text in your writing. Uppercase text denotes shouting so you may offend some people by typing in all uppercase text. All uppercase text is also hard to read. Never send chain letters via the Internet. Sending a chain letter can annoy recipients and cause hostility. Some recipients will return so many copies of the letter to you (mail bombing) that it could crash the system you use for E-mail. Other people will report you to your local system administrator who might suspend your Internet access privileges. Include a subject heading in each E-mail message you send. Be sure that your subject heading is brief and clearly indicates exactly what you intend to write about. This helps people organize and prioritize their incoming E-mail. Many people will ignore a message if it does not have a subject indicated or if it is vague. They feel that any message which does not include a clearly written subject isn't worth reading. Additionally, if you reply to a message, make sure your reply is relevant to the subject of the original message. If not, the thoughts you intend to convey in your message won't match up with what the subject says it should be about. This will confuse your readers. Don't post the same message to many different Usenet groups. Posting the same message on several Usenet groups at once is called crossposting. Many people read several groups and they get annoyed when they see the same message appear in different places. Crossposting also wastes network resources and people's time. Post your messages only to the minimum number of groups necessary. Don't post a message on a group unless the topic of your message pertains to the topic of discussion on that group. For instance, don't post a question about a computer problem on a group that talks about science fiction movies. Before you post a message to any discussion group, read through that group's postings to be sure you know what the group's discussion is all about. If you're not sure about the topic, ask on the group. Don't be afraid to post a message on a discussion group if you think the message is appropriate for the group. No one will bite you for posting a message as long as you don't consciously try to offend anyone. Electronic discussion groups work best when a large number of people contribute to the discussion. This free exchange of information or opinion is what helps to make the Internet a dynamic global community. As you begin to learn about the Internet and its various discussion groups, you will probably want to try your hand at posting messages to some groups. The best way to learn about this is to send a test message to a group, however, people who have been participating in that group (particularly busy groups) hate to see test messages interfere with the flow of the discussion on there. For that reason, a few groups were set up just for testing purposes. On listserv, you're welcome to try your hand at posting messages to test@vm.temple.edu if you're on the Internet or test@templevm if you're on BITnet. For Usenet groups, there's alt.test, misc.test. Most Usenet group hierarchies have a test group within them. Please use these groups for your testing attempts. Be careful in what you say and how you say it. E-mail is faceless. Unintentionally offending someone is easy because your facial expressions cannot be seen and the emotion in your voice cannot be heard. If you're joking, say so or use a smilie face symbol. For example, use :) to denote a humorous smile. A list of smilie faces is available via anonymous ftp on ftp.temple.edu and on many Gopher servers. If you receive a lot of E-mail which you requested, you are responsible to read it on a timely basis. Don't let your account overflow with E-mail. This can easily happen with some busy Listserv groups. If you don't regularly read E-mail from a particular list, sign off it. Many discussions have archives which can be retrieved from the appropriate Listserver. If you go away for a while and cannot check your E-mail, suspend your Listserv subscriptions until you return. The Internet is neither private nor secure. Some people can look at almost anything you send through the Internet, even private E-mail. Don't send confidential information (i.e., social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc.) to anyone else via the Internet. Things that are NOT good netiquette...
Page URL: http://www.lrc.salemstate.edu/aske/elists/netiquette.htmLast updated: March 7, 2008 |
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