Netiquette

This is something that one of my co-workers sent to me. Maybe it was a hint?! Just kidding. She sent it to our staff and thought it would be useful to us as professional emailers. I think it is really helpful to look at and to remember as we are interacting in cyberspace.

Use of good “Netiquette” is essential in an online environment. Please observe the following rules of common courtesy:

a) Focus on one subject per message or use pertinent subject titles.

b) Capitalize words only to highlight an important point or for titles. Capitalizing otherwise is generally interpreted as SHOUTING!

c) Be professional and careful with your online interactions. Remember that you should be comfortable with your statements if they were published on the front page of the local newspaper.

d) Cite all quotes, references and sources.

e) Never forward someone else’s messages without their permission, this is considered to be extremely rude.

f) Use humor with care. The absence of face-to-face cues and body language can lead to misunderstandings. Feel free to use emoticons such as :) or ;) to communicate that you are being humorous.

g) All postings should be of top quality, on time, and rich in text. This means no comments such as “at a boy”, “you go girl”, “I agree with that”, “couldn’t have said it better myself”, etc. will be considered master degree quality responses. Make sure to take the time to add richness to the discussion and make connections to the many theories in counseling, diversity and leadership that will be covered in this course. Remember, postings are tracked for quantity, quality, and punctuality of deadlines set forth.

(The above “Netiquette” guidelines were adapted fro Rinaldi, A. (1994) The Net User Guidelines and Netiquette, Florida Atlantic University, available from Netcom.)

http://www.cs.biu.ac.il/home/leagal/netguide/elec.html