NETWORK ETIQUETTE (NETIQUETTE) 

As the name implies netiquette is the electronic version of good manners. Or,
how to conduct yourself when using a computer network. Computer manners are
important. There are millions of people connected to the Internet and the number
continues to grow. The actions of one person can affect many other users. 

As with most manners, the underlying principle is the Golden Rule.  Do unto
others as you would have them do unto you.  When applying the rule, put yourself
on the same level as the other person.  For example, although you might have a
very fast connection to the network and may have a computer powerful system,
think of how your actions affect others who are using average to slow speed
connections and older, less capable systems. However, this doesn't mean that we
should always accommodate the least capable member of the group.  We should aim
for the majority of users.

RESPECT. 
The advice is simple, treat people the same way as you would treat them in
person. Follow the same standards of politeness as you do in any other aspect of
life. Also respect others feelings and their right to privacy. Think carefully
before forwarding an e-mail message. Don't send personal information about
living persons without their permission. 

IMPRESSION. 
On a network you are judged by the quality of your written communications. So
take care about how you present yourself. For example, your e-mail messages
should be typed properly with capitals and spacing in the right places. Grammar
and spelling should be checked before sending. Messages you send to Rootsweb
mailing lists are archived and made available for future researchers. So, your
messages may be read years from now by one of your relatives or future
descendants. Think about that before you hit the send command.

LURK. 
Before you join in a discussion, read some of the existing messages to get a
feel for the material being discussed. Try searching the message archives to get
a feel for what has already been discussed on the topics you are interested in
researching.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) are a good source of background information on
the nature of the discussion group. FAQs save you having to ask a lot of basic
questions that others have heard too often already. 

DO'S AND DON'TS. 

Do choose your words carefully. Mailing lists are public mediums. You have no
control over where your words go after you send your message and you can't edit
them after they are sent. 

Don't write anything that you wouldn't say to a stranger face-to-face. 

Do re-read your message carefully before you send it. 

Don't write e-mail messages in a hurry (or a temper).

Do quote from the original message when replying.

Don't quote excessively.  Some e-mail programs automatically quote the whole
message when you use the reply facility. This is wasteful and can also be
confusing. Quote the relevant portions only. Delete extraneous material.

Don't write anything that isn't suitable for all ages, sexes, religions, races,
etc.  Remember, this is a public forum.

Don't overuse the 'cc' function. Many people send copies to multiple mailing
lists when the message has only marginal application to most of the lists.  Try
to focus and send the message only to the lists for which it is directly
relevant.  

Don't send "thank you" messages to an entire mailing list when you are only
thanking a few people.  

Don't let brevity triumph over clarity. There's no point in being brief if your
message is not understood by the people you want to communicate with.

Don't try to impose your personal philosophy about how the world, or the mailing
list, should work on others. There is room for a diversity of attitudes and
philosophies.  Try to be tolerant. If you must complain, do it nicely. 

Don't send "personal chat" messages to the mailing list. If the "chat" is about
a topic relevant to the mailing list, and you think others on the list are
likely to want the information you are writing, then it may be appropriate to
send it to the mailing list.  But, if the chat is either not relevant to the
mailing list topic or is not something others are likely to want to know about,
then it probably should be sent privately and not addressed to the list service.

For examples:

"John, I checked the State Archives estate records for Sumter and Camden
Counties as you asked in a lookup request posted on SCRoots.  I found the
following listings for the names McIntosh, Buddin, and Amonett which may be of
interest to you and other researchers....."

That type of personal message is appropriate for the SCRoots mailing list.
Although it is addressed personally to John and is in response to a lookup
request made by John, it provides information that may be of interest to other
SCRoots subscribers. But, don't be suprised if you get lots of requests for
additional lookups when you send it to the mailing lists.

"John, I haven't looked yet for the information you requested. But, did you try
the recipe yet? Wondering if you liked it."

That message should not be sent to the SCRoots mailing list. It does not discuss
or provide information related to South Carolina Genealogy. 

WRITE EFFECTIVELY. 
Good e-mail is like good writing using any other medium. The main guidelines for
composing effective e-mail messages are: 

 one subject per message; 
 use a descriptive subject heading; 
 be concise - keep messages short and to the point; 
 write short sentences; 
 use bulleted lists to break up complicated text; 
 quote selectively from the original e-mail when replying; 

Messages can be made more concise using three letter acronyms (TLAs) to
abbreviate common expressions. Some common ones are 'FYI' (for your
information), 'BTW' (by-the-way), 'IMO' (in my opinion), 'WRT' (with respect
to), 'NRN' (no reply necessary) and 'TIA' (thanks in advance). 

Person-to-person communication provides visual and aural clues to your meaning
through facial expressions, body language, or voice inflections. We have limited
ways to imitate these techniques in e-mail messages using 'emoticons' or
'intensifiers'. Emoticons (or 'smileys') are faces (viewed sideways) that can be
used within your messages to help convey feelings. The main ones are ':-)' to
represent a smile, ':-(' to represent unhappiness and ';-)' to represent a wink.
Don't overdo them - too many smileys can be irritating. Intensifiers provide
emphasis. These include **enclosing your words within asterisks** or USING
UPPERCASE. Use uppercase with care - it's considered shouting on the 'net. 

Quoting from the original message means including an excerpt from it in your
reply. The quotation is normally preceded by a '>' sign to distinguish it from
your reply. Be careful not to quote private or sensitive information if the
message is forwarded or copied to third parties. Some e-mail programs
automatically quote the whole message when you use the reply facility. This is
wasteful and can also be confusing. Quote the relevant portions only. Delete
extraneous material.

ORGANIZE. 
Most e-mail programs provide a filing system for storing messages. Use it.
Create separate folders for regular correspondence, projects, or groups you
receive mail from regularly. Keep your inbox tidy so that it only contains
messages needing action. 

Create filters in your email program to automatically route messages from
mailing lists into folders setup for those lists.  This technique is useful for
any category of mail you receive regularly.

Delete messages after they are no longer needed.

Purge sent messages periodically.

Check for new e-mail at least once per day and go through all your folders at
least once per week. 

Use an email program that allows automated retrieval of messages so that your
service provider's system doesn't become clogged with a backlog of messages
waiting for you to retrieve them.

DATE & TIME. 
Your e-mail program will use the date and time on your PC's clock to stamp your
messages. So make sure your system's data and time are correct. 

THE LAW. 
There are laws relating to copyright, data protection, computer misuse, and
libel. Take care with copyright, although many resources are free, some aren't
and shouldn't be copied without prior permission. The "Free Use" doctrine allows
certain limited uses. But, when in doubt, don't.

SIGNATURE. 
Make sure that you include your e-mail address in your message so that people
can communicate with you. While this is normally provided automatically, many
people include a "signature" at the end of their message. A signature is a small
piece of text which provides contact information and sometimes a favorite
saying. Signatures should be short, usually between 2 to 5 lines. For example: 

+------------------------------------------------------+
| John Doe                        [email protected] |
| P.O. Box 123, Anycity, USA         Tel: 555-555-5555 |
| http://my.service.com/Doe          Fax: 555-555-5555 |
+------------------------------------------------------+

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