Here's a copy of the netiquette lesson (MAP07) from the ROADMAP96
course. I am forwarding it from the SUB-ARCH list, so I apologize for
cross-posting.
>
>Author: Patrick Douglas Crispen <[log in to unmask]> at INTERNET
>Date: 8/16/96 9:38 AM
>
>
>MAP07: NETIQUETTE
>
> "When thou enter a city abide by its customs."
> -- The Talmud
>
>
>The Internet is made up of more than computers and commands. All
>of the computers and commands would be useless if it were not for the
>people who use them. The commands are neat but it is the PEOPLE >who make
the Internet what it is. The problem is that every grouping of >people
develops its own culture and common rules that govern the >behavior of the
people.
>
>Today's lesson is going to give you an insider's look at how to avoid >some
of the mistakes that EVERYONE makes when they start out on the >Internet. If
you can take what is said in this lesson to heart, you are going >to find
that your travels on the Information Superhighway will be a whole >lot smoother.
>
>The following "Netiquette" guide (netiquette is the common way to >describe
the etiquette of the Internet) was written by my father, the Rev. >Bob
"Bob"Crispen. I think you will soon see where my sense of humor >comes from. :)
>
>In fact, it was because of my dad that I first got onto the Internet. I
>got an e-mail account so that I could e-mail him and ask him for money.
>
>-----
>
> NETIQUETTE
> by the Rev. Bob "Bob" Crispen
> (Patrick Crispen's daddy)
>
>One of these days you're going to get tired of Web surfing or listening in
>on LISTSERVs, IRCs, Usenet newsgroups or whatever, and you're going >to
want to say something yourself. At that moment your life will change.
>Let's see if we can't make that a change for the better.
>
>EVANGELISM:
>
>Everyone is tempted from time to time to evangelize, to stride boldly into
>the enemy's camp and throw down the gauntlet. We will never see the >end
of people who pop up on "comp.sys.intel" praising Macs and >Amigas; who send
mail to the SKEPTIC list that flying saucers really, truly >do exist; who
enlighten the Buddhist newsgroups that they're all bound >for hell, and on
and on.
>
>In the entire history of the Net, no one has managed to do this without
>looking like a complete idiot. If you believe you are the one person who
>will succeed where millions have failed, then you're ready to learn about
>...
>
>FLAMES:
>
>There is nothing you can say that won't offend somebody:
>
> >It's a bright, sunny day today.
>
> You filthy *@!?$, what have you got against Seattle?
>
>Flames (violent verbal expressions of disapproval), misunderstandings,
>overreactions, and hurt feelings are par for the course. Four lessons
>from experience:
>
>(1) HEDGE YOUR BETS. Rather than saying, "Metal rules! Death to all
> that appose [sic]!!" try saying "In my humble opinion (often
> abbreviated IMHO) metal bands perfectly express my feelings,
> choices, and lifestyle. Your mileage may vary" (another net
> cliche', less frequently abbreviated YMMV). By the way, BTW is
> another frequent net abbreviation, for what it's worth (FWIW). Watch
> the abbreviations until you're sure of them, or you may have your
> readers ROTFL (rolling on the floor, laughing).
>
>(2) APOLOGIZE. When misunderstanding is the culprit, and especially
> if you respect the person who misunderstood, take the blame on
> yourself for being unclear, apologize, say what you meant more
> clearly (if appropriate) and put it behind you. As in real life
> (remember that?) people who are quick to anger are often equally
> quick to forgive.
>
>(3) AVOID FLAME BAIT (conduct which gravely offends the norms, mores
> and folkways of a particular group). "Now wait a minute!" you
> say. "Do you mean that something that's accepted behavior on one
> list or newsgroup will draw dozens of stinging, ridiculing
> comments in another?" I sure do. Think about it. Do you expect
> the people who post on "comp.lang.ada" (about the Ada programming
> language) to be anything like the people who post to
> "rec.pets.cats?"
>
> What can you do? Lurk a while before you post. Read what's said
> like an anthropologist, trying to discover what the big "don't"s
> are. The beginning of a school term is a wonderful time to do
> this, as you will observe the clueless newbies, who weren't smart
> enough to read this paragraph, being torn to shreds. There are
> some things you should NEVER do, and we'll list them in a minute,
> but let's get to the last bit of advice.
>
>(4) Bow down to the group's gods. In every Usenet newsgroup and
> LISTSERV mailing list there are old, gray heads who have earned
> the respect of everyone in the group. For example, amongst the
> subscribers to the list discussing the late American bandleader
> Stan Kenton are the producer of a Kenton box set and the authors
> of definitive Kenton biographies and discographies. You are
> entirely ignorant compared to those people. Never pretend you're
> anything else. They would dearly love to help you -- to answer a
> question, help you find a rare record -- but you'll always come
> out second best in a head-butting contest with them.
>
> Still other group members have earned their status through long
> service. Friendships have developed over many years, and marriage
> is not unknown. By commenting abusively to or about one of these
> gods, you'll earn not only her enmity, but the enmity of all of
> her friends -- which may be everyone in the group but you!
>
>DO'S AND DON'TS (or how to avoid most flames):
>
>(1) DON'T include the entire contents of a previous posting in your
> reply.
>
>(1) DO cut mercilessly. Leave just enough to indicate what you're
> responding to. NEVER include mail headers except maybe the
> "From:" line. If you can't figure out how to delete lines in your
> mailer software, paraphrase or type the quoted material in.
>
>
>(2) DON'T reply to a point in a posting without quoting or
> paraphrasing what you're responding to and who said it. Reason: a
> dozen postings may occur between the original message and your
> reply. At some sites your reply may arrive before the original
> does.
>
>(2) DO quote (briefly) or paraphrase. If the original "Subject:" line
> was "Big dogs" make sure yours says "Re: Big dogs". Some reply
> functions do this automatically. By net convention, included
> (quoted) lines are preceded by ">" (greater-than signs). Some
> mail editors and newsreaders do this automatically. Others
> require you to do it manually or to set the "indent character" to
> ">." Microsoft Exchange is the hardest to use if you want to
> correspond on the Internet. Unless you're a Word expert, you'll
> have to enter the ">" signs by hand and get rid of the mail header
> and indentations. Some versions of Exchange client put the cursor
> for your reply *before* the message you're replying to; how
> useless! Move the cursor so that your readers will see the
> message you're responding to first, then your response.
>
>
>(3) DON'T send a message saying, "Why doesn't anybody say anything
> about X?" or "Who wants to talk about X?"
>
>(3) It's always a risk to start a new topic (often called a thread).
> The group may have just finished a long, bitter war about that
> very subject. But if you want to take the risk, SAY SOMETHING
> yourself about the subject you're raising.
>
>
>(4) DON'T send lines longer than 70 characters. This is a kindness
> to folks with terminal-based mail editors or newsreaders. Some
> mail and news gateways truncate extra characters, turning your
> deathless prose into gibberish.
>
>(4) Some mail and news editors only SEEM to insert line breaks for
> you but actually don't, so that every paragraph is one immense
> line. Learn what your mail and news editors do by mailing a
> message to yourself (or posting it to alt.test) and reading the
> message in a couple of mail and news readers. Unix mail or Mail
> (they're different) and nn and Netscape Navigator's mail and news
> readers will usually let you read your message in a plain, vanilla
> form, the way others will see it.
>
>
>(5) DON'T SEND A MESSAGE IN ALL CAPS. CAPITALIZED MESSAGES ARE HARDER
> TO READ THAN LOWER CASE OR MIXED CASE.
>
>(5) DO use normal capitalization. Separate your paragraphs with
> blank lines. Make your message inviting to your potential
> readers.
>
>
>(6) DON'T betray confidences. It's all too easy to quote a personal
> message by mistake in a message to the entire group.
>
>(6) DO read the "To:" and "Cc:" lines in your message before you send
> it. Are you SURE you want the message to go there?
>
>
>(7) DON'T make statements which can be interpreted as official
> positions of your organization or offers to do business. Saying
> "Boy, I'd sure like to have one of those new supercomputers" could
> result in a truck at your loading dock and a bill in the mail even
> larger than your student loan.
>
>(7) DO treat every post as though you were sending a copy to your
> boss, your minister, and your worst enemy. I customarily end
> every message I send from work with "Speaking for myself, not my
> company."
>
>
>(8) DON'T rely on the ability of your readers to tell the difference
> between serious statements and satire or sarcasm. It's hard to
> write funny. It's even harder to write satire.
>
>(8) DO remember that no one can hear your tone of voice. Use
> emoticons (or smileys) like :-) or ;^) -- tilt your head
> counterclockwise to see the smile. You can also use caps for
> emphasis or use net conventions for italics and underlines as in:
> You said the guitar solo on "Comfortably Numb" from Pink Floyd's
> _The Wall_ was *lame*? Are you OUT OF YOUR MIND???!!!
>
> Some mail editors (Exchange again) let you insert all kinds of
> special characters and put your text in boldface, italics or
> different fonts. Don't give in to the temptation to use those
> features unless you're certain that everyone whom you intend to
> read your message has the same editor.
>
>
>(9) DON'T put a huge signature at the bottom of your messages.
>
>(9) DO exercise some restraint. Remember that a large number of mail
> and news readers out there are set up to use proportional fonts,
> and your lovely ASCII art will look nothing like you intended it
> to on those readers. Remember also that there's a Usenet
> newsgroup(2) out there whose sole function is to make fun of
> people's signatures. Try not to appear there.
>
>
>(10) DON'T send a message that says nothing but "Me, too." This is
> most annoying when combined with (1) or (2) above. Ditto for "I
> don't know."
>
>(10) DO recall that you aren't obligated to reply to every single
> thing you read. Remember the immortal words of Martin Farquhar
> Tupper (1810-1889): "Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than
> speech."
>
>
>A word to people living in the United States: the net is international. If
>you tell a Belgian she's being un-American, SHE ISN'T OFFENDED. OF >COURSE
she's un-American; you're un-Belgian. She doesn't care about >being
lectured on the First Amendment and American values. She >doesn't HAVE a
First Amendment, and she thinks Belgian values are >BETTER. We Americans
have made fools of ourselves by forgetting this >everywhere else. Let's try
to behave a little better on the net.
>
>Finally, many groups have had the sense to write down some of their >norms
and folkways in a frequently asked questions (FAQ) list along with >(what
else?) the answers to frequently asked questions. Many Usenet >FAQs are
posted monthly or so on the news.answers (alt.answers, >comp.answers)
newsgroups. Listowners of LISTSERVs are often quite >willing to mail you
the FAQ for the list. In fact, they may have already told >you where it is
in the letter you get welcoming you to the list.
>
>With all we've said above, and with all the help newsgroup moderators >and
listowners are providing to newcomers, it almost seems like you'd >have to
work at it to go charging in with your mouth open and your eyes >and ears
shut, thereby aggravating and alienating some otherwise >perfectly nice
people. The good Lord gave us two eyes and two ears and >one mouth to
remind us of that very thing. But then he went and gave us .ten fingers to
type with, and here we are.
>
>-----
>
>
> (\__/) .~ ~. ))
> /O O ./ .' Patrick Douglas Crispen
> {O__, \ { The University of Alabama
> / . . ) \ [log in to unmask]
> |-| '-' \ } http://www.ua.edu/~crispen/
> .( _( )_.'
> '---.~_ _ _& Warning: squirrels.
>
> ROADMAP96: COPYRIGHT 1996 BY PATRICK DOUGLAS CRISPEN.
>
>The views, opinions, and conclusions reached in this lesson are those
>of Patrick Douglas Crispen and not necessarily those of The University
>of Alabama or its officers and trustees. The content of this lesson
>has not been reviewed or approved by The University of Alabama, and
>the author is solely responsible for its content.
>
>
Anita Cohen-Williams
Listowner of HISTARCH, SUB-ARCH, and SPANBORD
Internet Consultant
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
"Never wear anything that panics the cat." - P.J. O'Rourke
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