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Netiquette Equals Friendly Online Neighborhoods
By Gabe Goldberg, APCUG Advisor; Columnist, AARP Computer & Technology Website, www.aarp.org

Etiquette -- proper behavior in various situations -- has concerned humans through the ages. Google [www.google.com] turns up references to early telephone manners, proper Medieval-era knightly behavior, and how shells and sharp stones became today's knives and forks (and, of course, which hand to hold them in).

Though the Internet became generally accessible about ten years ago, academics and researchers had used it for decades before that. Just as civilization accommodated sudden widespread automobile and telephone usage, developing common practices (stop for red lights, answer telephones with "Hello"), new online technologies created the need for corresponding innovations in manners.

Called Netiquette ('Net + etiquette), the new discipline really just requires using old manners in a new setting. But since going online is like traveling to another country, a guidebook is useful.

The first and simplest chapter is simply "Follow the golden rule" [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethic_of_Reciprocity]: Treat people online with the same courtesy you expect. Without normal conversational cues such as body language, facial expression, and tone of voice, it's easy to misunderstand someone's meaning. You may remember Emily Litella on classic Saturday Night Live television, mishearing the need to reduce TV violence as "eliminating violins". Even stranger miscommunication occurs
online, so give others the benefit of the doubt.

Out-of-control ranting is sometimes called "flaming". Before responding angrily, consider how you'd react to receiving the note you're about to send. Remember that once sent, e-mail and other online communications take on a life of their own, being forever retrievable with your name attached. And asking "Did you mean..." can avoid having to give Emily Litella's trademark "Never mind" if your interpretation was off target. Replying calmly often gets a conversation back on track without anyone suffering a "flame war", an unproductive exchange of angry notes.

E-mail is likely the most commonly addressed Netiquette area. Searching Google for email + netiquette provides an encyclopedia of advice, some general, some for personal use, and much for business settings. Common tips are DON'T USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS (it's hard to read and is considered "shouting"); be brief; use meaningful subject lines; quote just enough from what you're answering to provide useful context; don't forward to everyone you know jokes, rumors, hoaxes, chain letters, charity appeals, and such, even if an arriving note tells you to do so; don't send "Me too" notes to discussion lists; don't send attachments without getting the recipient's permission; send plain text e-mail unless all your addressees prefer HTML-format; etc.

Accept and cheerfully answer questions asked by people newly online -- remember that we all started with basics. Interesting e-mail tips are available at places like Writers Write [www.writerswrite.com/journal/dec99/pirillo1.htm], Emailreplies.com
[www.emailreplies.com/], and Yale University Library [www.library.yale.edu/training/netiquette/]. 

Not all tips are "Don't"!
If you receive multiple replies to a question you ask online, it's advisable -- this will make people love you -- to summarize answers for everyone else who saw the question. Be careful with humor: what's obvious and sidesplitting to you may baffle or annoy someone else. When appropriate, and sparingly, use "smileys" -- symbols like ;-) -- to show that you're not serious. And if you receive what seems to be an unlikely rumor, do the sender a favor by checking it out at a site like snopes.com [www.snopes.com] and reporting what you find. 

The Netiquette Home Page [www.albion.com/netiquette/] is an entertaining and informative reference. It notes that Netiquette covers both common courtesy online and informal cyberspace "rules of the road". The site lists and explains rules with friendly illustrations. It's interesting that not only do the rules all agree with that Golden Rule mentioned earlier, they're often different ways of giving the same advice. For example, using the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life is an easy way to make yourself look good online. 

This article originated on AARP's Computers and Technology Web site, www.aarp.org/computers, and is copyrighted by AARP. All rights are reserved; it may be reproduced, downloaded, disseminated, or transferred, for single use, or by nonprofit organizations for educational purposes, with attribution to AARP. It should be unchanged and this paragraph included. Please e-mail Gabe Goldberg at gabe@gabegold.com when you use it, or for permission to excerpt or condense.

There is no restriction against any non-profit group using this article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given the author.  The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization of which this group is a member, brings this article to you.