As you send and receive e-mail, you may find that people
(at least those with whom, you enjoy interacting) are courteous
and use a special style in e-mail messages. E-mail courtesy and
style is mostly common sense and it can go a long way toward
making you a more effective communicator. Here are some guidelines
to help you understand the messages you receive, and to create
your own e-mail style:
Abbreviations
E-mail prose tends to be more compact than handwritten prose,
so if you want to save yourself some typing you can use common
e-mail abbreviations, such as FYI (for your information), BTW
(by the way), and IMHO (in my humble opinion). Also, some e-mail
users use little graphics called "smileys" or "emoticons"
to express reactions in a kind
of online shorthand.
Use smileys to indicate tone of voice, but use them sparingly.
Don't assume that the inclusion of a smiley will make the recipient
happy with what you say or wipe out an otherwise insulting comment.
·Here's a sample: :-) This is a smiley, a sideways happy
face made with ordinary typographic characters. People use it
at the end of a sentence to indicate humor or sarcasm. Likewise,
:-( indicates sadness or disapproval. There are many other "emoticons"
used on the Internet, some more obvious than others.
Emphasis
On the Internet, typing your messages using all capital letters
is often considered rude. Use mixed case. UPPER CASE LOOKS AS
IF YOU'RE SHOUTING. Caps are OK for a word or two but an entire
sentence is too much. Other ways to emphasize what you are saying
include putting the text in *asterisks*, >>angle brackets<<,
or underlining it with the _underscore_ character. Don't overuse
these marks, however, since too many can make your message hard
to read. Some examples of using symbols for emphasis are: That
*is* what I meant. _War and Peace_ is my favorite book.
"Flames"
Don't get involved in flame wars. Neither post nor respond
to incendiary material. Wait overnight to send emotional responses
to messages. You should not send heated messages (we call these
"flames") even if you are provoked. On the other hand,
you shouldn't be surprised if you get flamed and it's prudent
not to respond to flames.
If you should find yourself in a disagreement with one person,
make your responses to each other rather than continue to send
messages to a list or group. If you are debating a point on which
the group might have some interest, you may summarize for them
later.
Keep it simple
Messages and articles should be brief and to the point. Don't
wander off-topic, don't ramble and don't send mail or post messages
solely to point out other people's errors in typing or spelling.
These, more than any other behavior, mark you as an immature
beginner. Be brief without being overly terse.
If you are sending a reply to a message, summarize the original
at the top of the message but include just enough text of the
original to give a context. This will make sure the reader understands
when starting to read your response. It is possible to see a
response to a message before seeing the original. Giving context
helps everyone. But do not include the entire original! It is
extremely bad form to simply reply to a message by including
all the previous message. Edit out all the irrelevant material.
Know how large your message is. Including large files such
as Postscript files or programs may make your message so large
that it cannot be delivered or at least consumes excessive resources.
Don't send large amounts of unsolicited information to people.
If your message is long, it's a good practice to include
the word "Long" in the subject header so the recipient
knows the message will take time to read and respond to. Over
100 lines is considered "long".
Identify Yourself
In order to ensure that people know who you are, be sure
to include a line or two at the end of your message with contact
information (your name and/or E-mail address). You can create
this file ahead of time and add it to the end of your messages.
(Some mailers do this automatically.) In Internet parlance, this
is known as a ".sig" or "signature" file.
If you include a signature keep it short. Rule of thumb is
no longer than 4 lines. Remember that many people pay for connectivity
by the minute, and the longer your message is, the more they
pay.
More E-mail Do's and Don'ts
In general, conform to standard rules of grammar and spelling.
This makes it easier on your readers and improves the odds that
they'll write back.
Never put in an e-mail message anything you would not put
on a postcard.
Mail should have a subject heading which reflects the content
of the message.
Avoid sending messages which are no more than gratuitous
replies to replies.
Never send chain letters via electronic mail. Chain letters
are forbidden on the Internet.
Your network privileges will be revoked. Notify your local ISP
system administrator or "SYSOP" if your ever receive
one.
If you are forwarding or re-posting a message you've received,
do not change the wording. If the message was a personal message
to you and you are re-posting to a group, you should ask permission
first. You may shorten the message and quote only relevant parts,
but be sure you give proper credit.
People with whom you communicate are located across the globe.
If you send a message to which you want an immediate response,
the person receiving it might be at home asleep when it arrives.
Give them a chance to wake up, come to work, and log in before
assuming the mail didn't arrive or that they don't care.
The recipient of your E-mail is a human being whose culture,
language, and humor have different points of reference from your
own. Remember that date formats, measurements, and idioms may
not travel well. Be especially careful with sarcasm.
"Reasonable" expectations for conduct via e-mail
depend on your relationship to a person and the context of the
communication. Norms learned in a particular e-mail environment
may not apply in general to your e-mail communication with people
across the Internet. Be careful with slang or local acronyms.
Just as mail may not be private, E-mail is subject to forgery
and spoofing of various degrees of detectability. Apply common
sense "reality checks" before assuming a message is
valid. By the way, forgeries and spoofing are not approved behavior.
If you think the importance of a message justifies it, immediately
reply briefly to an e-mail message to let the sender know you
got it, even if you will send a longer reply later.
Delivery receipts (acknowledgements) are neither totally
standardized nor totally reliable across the range of systems
connected to Internet mail. Some people consider delivery receipts
an invasion of privacy. In short, do not use them.
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