Netiquette Guide

One of the big points you'll realise when working on the net is how much we all depend on someone's tone of voice, their expression, their body language etc. to help us work out just what that person means by something. Even when we're on the phone with someone we listen to their tone of voice and use such sounds as sighs and laughter to help us understand what's being said. However in most cases on the net, all we've got to deal with is text.

What all this means is that in order to fill in some of these cues, a specific net culture has developed: a network etiquette otherwise known as netiquette.

Now netiquette has been written out into various extensive sets of guidelines covering almost every possible interaction on the net, and these are far too lengthy to include here in full - if you're interested though, see: Netiquette Guidelines [RFC 1855].

In general, basic rules of common courtesy should be in force for any situation and as noted earlier this is doubly important in this space because body language and tone of voice have to be inferred. To get you going though, here's a list of basic tips to keep in mind as you communicate within the net.

Probably the biggest point to keep in mind is to avoid sending a message when you're upset or angry. Wait overnight to send emotional responses to messages and try and avoid sending heated messages (called 'flames') even if you are provoked. On the other hand, don't be surprised if you do get flamed at some point, but again don't let yourself respond to flames.
Avoid using UPPER CASE. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE SHOUTING.
Use emoticons or smileys to indicate tone of voice, but use them sparingly.
:-) is an example of a smiley (Look sideways). However don't assume that simply including a smiley will make up for an otherwise insulting comment.
Don't quote back an entire message when only responding to one or two points. When replying to a message, include enough original material to be understood but no more: edit out all the irrelevant stuff. Some e-mail programs automatically set up to quote the entire original message when replying - this can be *really* annoying to your recipients.
Don't send chain letters via electronic mail - they're actually forbidden on the internet. Notify your local system administrator if you ever get sent one.
Lastly always go back and reread your message before sending them!

In a student email context, refer to Email Etiquette for Students [.pdf]