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Email
Netiquette
Netiquette is a
combination of the words "network" and "etiquette," and is an informal
code of manners governing online conduct. Here are a few basic DOs and
DON'Ts:
DO:
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Keep your communications to the
point. If a recipient is paying for access by the hour, he or she
won't appreciate messages that take forever to read. |
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Check your spelling! You can do
this in Outlook® Express by placing your cursor at the beginning of
the text you want to check, then hitting the F7 key to bring up the
spell checker. |
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Thread your messages when
appropriate. Threads are a series of responses to an original
message. Sometimes it's helpful to keep them all together; other
times it's not. |
DON'T:
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Type messages in all caps -- it's
the equivalent of SHOUTING!!! |
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Assume your email is private. The
general rule of thumb is: don't email anything that you wouldn't
want published on the front page of USA Today. Avoid including
confidential information (or, if you're at work, personal
information) unless you have a way to encrypt it. |
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Use an excessively long signature;
they're a waste of bandwidth. A general rule of thumb is to keep
your signature file down to 4-6 lines. |
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If sending emails to a group of
recipients, do not list their email addresses in the To or CC
section of the email address bar. Use the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy)
section instead. This way, no one will see or have access to
your list of intended receipients |
To find out more about netiquette,
visit the free online version of Virginia Shea's book
Netiquette
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