The Ten Commandments of Netiquette

Sending email through an Internet connection has become a staple in businesses and organizations both next door and around the world. Much of my own work as an academic librarian involves email messages, in fact, it has become my preferred method of communication.
When communicating with other homo sapiens in any format there are standard practices that apply, so let’s review the common practices of Netiquette.

Thou shalt not type in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
This is *shouting* and it's considered extremely rude. There aren't many ways to express strong opinions in email or chat correspondence; so ALL CAPS is used. Emphasizing a word or phrase using ALL CAPS is fine, but overuse diminishes the effect.

Thou shalt not leave the subject line of emails empty.
If you’ve ever gotten a message with no subject line and are like me- you’ll trash it immediately without even reading it. It is safe toassume messages like this are spam, and only trashworthy.

Thou shalt not send lengthy epistles via email.
Keep your messages short and to the point, and break your writing into short paragraphs. Reading a three page email on the screen can cause eye strain to say nothing of shortening tempers, so try to keep it on topic. If it’s long, consider attaching a copy of a word file instead. After all, some of us have other things to do with our lives.

Thou shalt not send all thy friends copies of emails.

This includes what we used to refer to as “chain letters”… messages that get sent to everyone you know… just in case.Answer individual requests individually, and send only relevant materials to groups (a function of your email program).

Thou shalt not type anything thou wouldn't tell someone to their face.
Remember, there are people out there on the Internet, and sometimes they get cranky and take what you say the wrong way. If you're rude, or if your words appear to be rude, you could start what’s called a "flame war" ~ creating unwanted litter on the information highway.

Thou shalt not reply and include the entire original message.
It’s worth taking the time to delete, or cut and paste bits and pieces so that only relevant parts of the original message remain. It is both tedious and unnecessary to re-read the entire original message, but selecting a line or point for reference, is often appreciated.

Thou shalt not talk out of school.
Email is not secure and recognizing this, hopefully you will never be in the awkward situation of having your confidential email forwarded to the multitudes.

Thou shalt not be a spammer.
A spam is defined as sending the same message to a very wide audience. That is normal discussion group activity. Spamming is the practice of sending the same message to several different discussion groups or news groups at the same time.

Thou shalt not assume the reader knows you're being sarcastic.
If you're not sure how your remarks will be received, insert an emoticon, i.e., for "grin," or a "smiley," like the few you've been seeing scattered through this article. I like to use this wry "wink" ;-> for those times when I make a comment I hope the recipient won't take too seriously.

Thou shalt not respond (or reply) to junk e-mail.
Junk mail is often sent out like a spam message. Don’t bother replying to messages asking to be removed from the list. If you do reply, your address is automatically attached to the message and then they really will have it.

I’m looking for suggestions of topics to write about – please email me with your ideas.