ELI – Ford

Netiquette Handout

Netiquette:

“What is Netiquette? Simply stated, it's network etiquette -- that is, the etiquette of cyberspace. And "etiquette" means "the forms required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be required in social or official life." In other words, Netiquette is a set of rules for behaving properly online.

“When you enter any new culture -- and cyberspace has its own culture -- you're liable to commit a few social blunders. You might offend people without meaning to. Or you might misunderstand what others say and take offense when it's not intended. To make matters worse, something about cyberspace makes it easy to forget that you're interacting with other real people -- not just ASCII characters on a screen, but live human characters.

“So, partly as a result of forgetting that people online are still real, and partly because they don't know the conventions, well-meaning cybernauts, especially new ones, make all kinds of mistakes.” (Shea, 1994).

Basic Guidelines for Proper Email Netiquette:

· Formal email messages should include a brief and specific title in the subject heading.

· Formal email messages should follow similar guidelines as formal letters:

· Use proper greeting and address recipient appropriately;

· Introduce yourself in opening line of message unless you’re positive that recipient will know who you are from your email address alone;

· Use proper punctuation, spell correctly, and try to use proper grammar;

· Remain polite, even if topic is controversial;

· Don’t get too emotional or personal;

· Keep your message brief and to the point, but not too brief so as to sound terse and rude. Provide context for message without going into too much detail, ask specific questions, do not wander off-topic, and maintain an appropriate level of politeness;

· Ask for reply at recipient’s convenience, keeping in mind some people may not check their email accounts frequently and may have other responsibilities;

· End your message with a proper closing that includes your name and affiliation.

· When responding to an email, don’t reply to original recipient list unless it is necessary. Most times, reply only to original sender, especially if message is private.

· When responding to an email, don’t include original message in your reply unless it’s very brief and it’s necessary to help clarify your message.

· Never forward or send chain letters or advertisements in academic or professional email messages.

The following message is an example of an actual student email to demonstrate acceptable format. Use this as an example of how to structure your formal messages.

Dear Professor Ford, (proper greeting and address)

This is Xxxx Xxx, one student from your ELI 100 class. (proper introduction)

I do not think I can turn the report that is due next Monday. (context provided)

I have been working it but I do not think I can finish on time. (appropriate details)

So, I liked to ask you to delay me the time to turn the paper. (specific request)

I will tell you more about my excuses for it when I come to class. (politeness)

Please consider my asking, and reply to me when you have time. (politeness)

Thank you, (proper closing)

Xxxx Xxx (signature provided)

Here are some Internet references for Netiquette:

Hambridge, S. (1995). RFC 1855: Netiquette Guidelines. Internet document, available

on the World Wide Web at < nton.dtcc.edu/stanton/cs/rfc1855.html>.

Rinaldi, A.H. (1998). The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette. Internet document,

available on the World Wide Web at < .edu/netiquette/net/>.

Shea, V. (1994). Netiquette. The Internet: Albion Books. Online edition available on the

World Wide Web at <ion.com/netiquette/book/index.html>.