Dear Mr. Netiquette,
I read the first article in this series and got really excited about the Internet. I followed all the directions and soon I was zooming down the on-ramp to the Information Superhighway. I accelerated up to speed on the InfoBahn, and was ready to cruise the Internet. It felt exhilarating to join the 21st century. I created this really neat 20-line signature with graphics. I sent all sorts of large files to all my friends containing really interesting information I found on the Net. I sent some very funny replies to messages on some electronic discussions I joined. But now, nothing is happening. Nobody answers my e-mail. What did I do wrong? What do I do now?
(signed) Puzzled on the Net
Dear Puzzled,
My guess is that you have been breaking some of the basic rules of Internet etiquette, or Netiquette, as it is called. But don't worry; here is a short guide to politeness on the Internet. These are basic rules of etiquette for sending e-mail, and conventions for electronic discussion groups.
To send an e-message to someone, you need to know that person's electronic address. The address must be exact, so pay close attention to the letters (upper and lower case), the numbers, and the punctuation.
Because some people belong to several electronic discussion groups (more about this later in this article, and in the next article in the series), they may receive a lot of mail, sometimes over 100 messages a day. Your letter may get lost in the avalanche of e-letters. To avoid this, it is best to give the addressee an idea of what the message is about. You can do this by inserting a short description of the topic of your message into the subject slot in the header of your message. "Cuteness" is often valued within messages, but succinctness and accuracy are important in the subject header as they save time for the reader.
Often, in the "address" part of your message, there is a place to indicate who you are "ccing," or to whom you are sending copies of the letter. It is good manners to let people know who else has received the message.
Somewhere in your messages, usually in the special signature that most communications software will automatically attach to your messages, it would be a good idea to include how often you usually check your e-mail (this is known as your log-on pattern). See below for a sample signature. This way people know that if they have something urgent for you and you only log on every three to four days, they probably would be better off telephoning or faxing you.
E-mail works a lot like snail mail in that you have to send mail to get mail. Make sure all your family, friends, colleagues, and associates know your address. Put it on the letterhead of your stationery and on your business calling card. On the other hand, if you are concerned about getting too much e-mail, then you might want to be a little more careful about handing out your address.
Listservers
After you have become accustomed to e-mail, you might want to try a few listservers. Listservers are like large telephone party lines or electronic bulletin boards, where you can discuss topics with people who have the same interests as you. Any message that is sent to the list server is sent to all members of the list. Steve McGuire will discuss various language learning/teaching lists in the next article. Here are ten basic rules of netiquette, many gleaned from The Net Use Guidelines and Netiquette by Arlene H. Rinaldi at: http://crisny.albany.edu/netiquet.html.
Check the Address
One of the nice things about e-mail is the Reply function that most communications software provides. This function allows you to reply to an e-mail message you received by automatically addressing the reply message and labeling the subject. Make sure the reply is addressed to the right person. Sometimes it goes automatically to the discussion group it came from, and a reply you meant to be private gets broadcast to the whole discussion group.
Clearly Indicate What You are Discussing
If you are replying to something in a previous message, it is helpful to quote the section to which you are replying. If this section is very long, it is polite to paraphrase the section rather than quote long passages. In quoting parts of messages, the convention is to use the symbol > at the beginning of each quoted line, for example:
In his last message Tom wrote:
>Can anyone tell me where to get more information on >Cooperative Learning? I am very interested in using it in >my classroom, but I need to know more about it.
When you choose the Reply function, some software will automatically quote the entire message to which you are replying and put in all of the ">" marks, which saves a lot of time. You can then delete the unnecessary parts.
At the End of Your Message, Give Biographical Information
Some software strips off much of the header in received messages, so it is difficult to know where the message came from. Also, some of the people you write to may not recognize you by your given name only, so it is best to include in the signature at the end of your message your full name, your institutional affiliation, and your address. Keep it down to 5 lines or so. Long signatures are cute only the first time and get less so the more often you post. Here is my signature:
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # David Kluge Kinjo Gakuin University 2-1723 Omori, Moriyama-ku, Nagoya, Japan 463 School Fax 052-799-2089 E-mail: kluge@kinjo-u.ac.jp Log on Pattern: Once a day, weekdays only "Gladly would he learn, and gladly teach." # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Emphasize Words Sparingly
Since italics and underline cannot be used or read by most e-mail software, emphasis is indicated by putting the emphasized part in capital letters (called "shouting"), or by using an asterisk or underline, as in *good*, _good_, _GOOD_, before and after the emphasized part. Do this very sparingly as it loses its potency quickly and annoys people, just as real shouting does.
Avoid Special Characters
Since most e-mail programs do not have special characters like circumflexes (^) or tildes (~), and so forth, it is best to avoid them in your e-correspondence. Also, some systems cannot read Japanese characters. The Japanese in these messages often appears as incoherent symbols, letters, and boxes. Also, "Smart Quotes," which look like this � on many computer screens, should be replaced by straight quotes ("") as they sometimes cause problems when sending messages.
Don't Quote or Forward Personal Messages Without Permission
Before quoting a private e-mail message, get permission from the writer. If you do quote from a private message, it's a good idea to mention that you have the original author's permission. If it is not a private message, but one that was online elsewhere, be sure to cite it. Rules for citing e-mail correspondence can be found in the Fourth Edition of the APA manual.
Don't Lurk Too Long
It is only natural to stand back and observe what is happening on the list at first. Reading the messages on a list but not participating is called "lurking." But don't lurk too long. As soon as you have a sense of the rules of discussion, jump right in. It is often appropriate to send a short message introducing yourself to others on the list. If you want to see a topic discussed on the list, then you will have to introduce the topic yourself.
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Don't Post Long Messages
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Don't post long messages. A message of two pages or screens, about 50 lines each screen, is the usual maximum.
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Don't Spam
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Spamming is sending junk mail over the Net in large quantities to many different lists unrelated to the content of the message. Send only short, relevant messages.
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Be Very Careful when Using Humor or Sarcasm
Humor and sarcasm are very hard to communicate well on the Net. Quite frequently messages can be seen on listservers where writers express surprise and hurt that their intended innocuous "humorous" message was misunderstood. It happens so frequently that most experienced netters use humor and sarcasm rarely, if at all, in serious discussions. (Yes, dull, but after going through a series of 10-20 messages trying to explain that the offending message was just meant as humor, you will understand. Besides, having to explain a joke takes all the fun away.)
Beware of Emotion!
Because it is difficult to communicate humor, emotion, or subtleties of tone, a system of "emotional punctuation" has been developed that tries to indicate these paralinguistic qualities of language. These symbols are called "emoticons," perhaps from "emotive icons," and are often added after the relevant part of the conversation. A few emoticons are listed below. (Hint: To understand them, turn the page 90 degrees clockwise.)
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:-) Smile
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;-) Smiley winking
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'-) Wink
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:-c Bummed out
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:-< Forlorn
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|-) Hee Hee
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:-* Kiss
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:-> Sarcastic
Talking the Talk
It is only natural that some jargon has developed on the Net. Here are a few of the most common shorthand symbols found in e-mail messages:
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<g> Grin
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cha< g > Chagrin
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GD&R Grin, duck, and run
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ROFL Rolling on the floor laughing
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BTW By the way
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OTOH On the other hand
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TIA Thanks in advance
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IMO In my opinion
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IMHO In my humble opinion
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RTFM Read the friendly(?) manual
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FAQ Frequently asked questions
Important note: a smile or < g > after a really nasty insult is usually not well-received. When in doubt, don't send the insult.
Try It Out!
Well, Puzzled, now that you know some of the basics of Netiquette, I hope you have become somewhat unpuzzled. In the next article in this series, Steve McGuire will discuss different Internet language forums you can join to network with other language teachers via e-mail. Try out your newfound netiquette knowledge on these forums.
(signed)
Mr. Netiquette