Netiquette (Internet Etiquette)

Every few months a plague descends on Usenet called the spelling flame. It starts out when someone posts an article correcting the spelling or grammar in some article. The immediate result seems to be for everyone on the net to turn into a 6th grade English teacher and pick apart each other's postings for a few weeks. This is not productive and tends to cause people who used to be friends to get angry with each other. - Chuq Von Rospach, Gene Spafford, Mark Moraes; A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community, 1983-1995.

"Netiquette" stands for "Internet Etiquette", and refers to the set of practices created over the years to make the Internet experience pleasant for everyone. Like other forms of etiquette, netiquette is primarily concerned with matters of courtesy in communications. The following sections provide more information.

• Netiquette Basics

• Help the newbies
• Research before asking
• Remember emotion
• People aren't organizations

• Netiquette Of Sending:

• Be brief
• Use white space
• Use descriptive subject lines
• Stay on-topic
• Be careful sending attachments
• Copy the minimum number of people
• Include your email address
• Respect non-commercial spaces
• Avoid flaming

• Netiquette Of Replying

• Replying and forwarding
• Summarize for the group
• Check current information before replying
• Reference past communications
• Acknowledge important communications

• Netiquette Of Confidentiality

• Don't publicize other's email addresses
• Never send what you don't read
• Remember archiving
• Respect copyright

• More Netiquette Information.