Netiquette

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Netiquette (neologism, a portmanteau formed from "Network etiquette", though now commonly mistaken to be "Internet etiquette") is a catch-all term for the conventions of politeness and respect recognized on Usenet, in mailing lists, in live chat systems, and on other electronic forums such as Internet message boards. These conventions address the relationship between personal behavior and group phenomena, and outline a dynamic set of guidelines for conduct that is conducive to pleasant, efficient and agreeable interaction. Examples of these guidelines are not posting in all uppercase, not (cross-)posting to inappropriate groups, refraining from commercial advertising outside the biz groups and not top posting. RFC 1855 is a fairly lengthy and comprehensive set of such conventions.

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[edit] Rules of netiquette

The rules of netiquette are slightly different for newsgroups, private email, web forums, IRC (Internet Relay Chat), and other methods of communication.

For example, on Usenet it is conventional to write in standard English and not use abbreviations such as "u" for "you" or "ne1" for "anyone". These abbreviations are only slightly more likely to be tolerated on web forums, but are fairly widely used in certain parts of IRC where, since discussion is real-time, they serve the practical purpose of speeding the rate of typing for people who cannot touch-type. However, many IRC users look down on this form of conversation as it usually does not make reading easier and may actually confuse further in the face of poor grammar. In fact, there are many IRC channels where it is inappropriate and may result in the culprit being removed from the channel (kicked) or even banned.

Issues such as the level of tolerance for off-topic discussion or spoilers may also vary from one newsgroup, forum, or channel to another. The rule of thumb in any of these discussion media is to "lurk before one leaps" — to get a feel for the local conventions before engaging in conversation and inadvertently embarrassing oneself. Another commonly recommended precaution is to read the FAQ if available.

[edit] Usenet etiquette

The following is a list of some of the more common rules associated with netiquette on Usenet. Where the similarities are significant, the rules of Usenet etiquette also apply to email mailing lists.

  • The most important rule of netiquette is, "Think before posting". If an intended post will not make a positive contribution to the newsgroup and be of interest to several readers, it should not be posted. Personal messages to one or two individuals should be sent via private e-mail, not posted to newsgroups.
    • This rule is sometimes stated in other forms, such as "Remember the human".
  • Quoting should be interspersed, with a response that follows the relevant quoted material. The result should read like a conversation, with quotes indented to aid in skimming. A common mistake is to put all new text above the quoted material, without trimming any irrelevant text. This results in a message that is harder to follow and is less clear in context. Contributors are asked to remember that the reader may use kill files, that sites drop messages, mailbox quotas go over their limit, users might be dealing with thousands of pieces of correspondence a day and messages get delivered out of order. The assumption should be made that nobody has read or remembers other messages. Therefore, when responding, it is important that the author make the context clear in their response.
  • Posts should be trimmed of extraneous quoted material, particularly at the end of a post. For example, it is particularly undesirable to have a three line response followed by 800 lines of quoted text. The post should instead be trimmed by deleting the unused quoted text. It is not usually necessary to quote the entire message to which one is responding.
  • When responding to an article that was cross-posted to several groups, the poster should edit the distribution ("Newsgroups:") header to contain only those groups which are appropriate to the reply. This is especially true if the original message was posted to one or more inappropriate groups.
  • Posters are asked to re-read and edit their posting carefully before posting. The spelling, grammar, and capitalization should be checked. One should not be afraid about re-writing entire paragraphs. Typing in all capital letters usually denotes screaming or yelling, and this should be avoided. To convey emphasis in a less drastic manner, one may use these effects: *bold*, /italics/, and _underline_. When posting humorous or sarcastic comments, it is conventional to append an emoticon, but it is suggested that emoticons should not be overused.
  • Test messages should only be posted in appropriate groups. One suggestion for posters wishing to test something without access to a test group, is to wait until they have something worthwhile to say.
  • Posting should be done in plain text, not HTML. Most readers use a text-only utility so any HTML will be lost anyway. Lines should be kept to fewer than 70 characters, counted in a fixed-pitch font, as that allows for a reasonable number of levels of quoting on a 80 column screen without automated wrap.
  • Before asking a question, one should read the messages already in the group and read the group's FAQ if it has one.
    • There are groups that expect that when a question is posted, the poster follows it with, "Please reply by mail and I will post a summary if requested" or equivalent. In this case it is important that a summary is indeed posted, if requested; or, if only a few people were interested, that a summary be sent by email. This avoids the undesirable situation where several people post the same answer to the group and several others post "me too" responses.
    • However, many newsgroups follow the rule "Post here, read here" (that is, they explicitly discourage posters from requesting offline answers to topical questions). This is because there may be lurkers who would benefit from seeing the discussion unfold online, and because questioners often do neglect to post summaries of their findings.
  • One should consider the language of the target group. It is important to remember that while English is the lingua franca of the internet, many newsgroup hierarchies use a different language. Where, say, posting in German to English language groups is not appropriate, the same goes for posting in English in the German hierarchy (de.*).
  • Posters should be proud of their postings, but should avoid posting just to see their name in pixels. To provide perspective, posters are asked to remember that their future or potential employers may be reading.
  • A signature at the end of a posting should be no more than 80 columns wide and four lines long. It is signified by two dashes and a space on a line of their own, which causes everything afterward, including stray quoted material, to be counted as part of the signature. In the signature, one may choose to place their name and contact information, or perhaps a quote or a witty saying. One is advised to exercise in moderation in picking their signature. Signatures are not expected to be quoted in followups, and many newsreaders will strip them automatically.
    • Religious beliefs, political stances, or other strong opinions are inappropriate for inclusion when posting in groups where that is not a topic, even as signature.

There is also a netiquette rule for how to deal with someone who has violated one of the rules of netiquette:

  • If one believes that someone has violated netiquette, they are advised to send them a message by private e-mail; one should not post a follow-up to the offending post. It is important to be polite. The offending author may not have realized their mistake, may be a beginner, or may not even have been responsible for the offence — their account may have been used by someone else, or the address may have been forged. Furthermore, a person who breaks netiquette over and over, may be doing it intentionally to disrupt the group (see Internet troll), in which case public flaming over the violation would amount to what is termed feeding the troll.

[edit] Forum etiquette

Certain rules of unspoken etiquette are recommended to be followed when using Internet forums. They include:

  • One should read all the rules and guidelines established by the community. Some communities may have different regulations on a particular subject.
  • One should always be courteous.
  • Before creating a new topic thread, one is advised to search to see if a similar topic already exists.
  • Contributors should follow standard grammar and spelling rules and avoid slang.
  • If the forum is categorized, one should strive to post in the correct section.
  • When making a technical inquiry, one should include as much technical information as possible, especially in the subject line.
  • Contributors are asked to stay on-topic.
  • Contributors should avoid double posting and Crossposting.
  • To avoid appearing self-absorbed, one should respond to topics started by others more often than starting topics of their own.
  • Contributors should avoid the use of all CAPITAL LETTERS in posts. All CAPS is considered "shouting" and causes readability issues.
  • One is advised not to resurrect a very old topic if nothing significant will be added. This practice is known as revival or Necroing.
  • One should try to refrain from lashing back at a poorly behaving member or participating in a flame war; instead, notify the messageboard's staff of the event.
  • When quoting a previous post, one should only include the relevant portion of that post. Contributors are requested to keep in mind that their audience can likely still see the message they are quoting on the same screen and can read it again if need be.

[edit] E-mail etiquette

Due to the nature of e-mail lists, as compared to Usenet or web-based forums, the rules of etiquette are usually somewhat different. These differences can include:

  • Top posting is generally accepted to a much greater degree, especially for business use. Compared to Usenet, the smaller audience and more reliable delivery method means the flow of conversation is often clear.
  • A business e-mail account should not be used for personal correspondence. Since e-mails from a business account are considered official company communications, they may be monitored.
  • If the original message was sent to multiple recipients, one should only reply to users for whom your message is pertinent.
  • Ask first before sending large attachments, unless the recipient requests attachments (for example, human resources personnel typically want resumes attached when you're applying for a position).
  • For mailing list administrators, including instructions for unsubscribing at the bottom of messages is considered good form.
  • One should not use all UPPERCASE letters in an email. Uppercase letters imply shouting and may be considered rude.
  • Subject lines are critical to proper email etiquette. A subject line should include a pertinent few words summarizing the subject of the email.
  • When one replies to emails, they should always make certain the subject line of the email is still relevant to the reply.
  • When one has not received a reply to a business email, it is customary to send an inquiry message within two to five business days if a reply is expected. This provides the recipient with a polite reminder and a backup in case the original message was overlooked, intercepted, or inadvertently deleted.
  • Email content should be universally accessible. Not all computers are up to date and thus, in general email should not contain non-standard extensions.

[edit] IRC etiquette

Rules of IRC etiquette are similar to most of the above "netiquette" with the addition of:

  • Don't use colors, this is considered annoying most of the time and is unnecessary.
  • Before sending someone a private message (/query <nickname>), ask them. Respect their privacy.
  • Don't change your nickname or use away (with announcing) constantly, it's very annoying.
  • Unless otherwise stated, don't "advertise" in a channel.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

This article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, which is licensed under the GFDL.

[edit] External links

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