Transcript Netiquette Being Polite in Cyberspace

Netiquette
Being Polite in
Cyberspace
Kathie Carwile Morgan, ED.D.
Liberty University
ACSI Washington DC Educator Convention
Nov. 22 & 23, 2010
Crystal Gateway Marriott
Arlington VA
How Netiquette Came to Be
 Over the last twenty years correct and accepted Net
manners have been developed by users of the Internet.
 Netiquette grew and developed from use. Just as our
“manners” have come to be accepted, internet users
themselves have created the accepted policies of Internet
use today. Netiquette has been developed extremely
quickly…unlike our traditional etiquette.
 Not to know the accepted use policy is considered by
other users as “poor form” or ignorance and the
unfortunate user of unaccepted policy is likely to be
treated with distain.
Internet Use 101
 There are many viruses on the Internet. These
programs are written to destroy your work or
your computer system.
 You may not be able to keep people from
mailing viruses to you, but you can keep from
mailing or forwarding the viruses on to others. It
is your responsibility as an ethical Internet user
to run a virus checking program on your
computer. Make sure that your computer is
always virus free. You cannot send a virus to
others unless you have one in your computer.
Free Virus Software
 AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is a free antivirus protection tool developed by
GRISOFT for home use. Private internet
users can download the software and now
enjoy the benefits of AVG Anti-Virus Free.
 AVG Anti-Virus Free
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2
E-mail Basics
 Typing mail messages all in upper case is
considered SHOUTING! and is rude.
 Unless you are e-mailing a close friend or
family member e-mails should be written
like any other letter.
 Use of correct spelling, grammar,
punctuation, and form should be observed.
You can’t teach what you don’t
know!
 Learn and use the system.
 Teachers must address this form of
writing.
 Just like letter writing and narrative writing
students must have instruction on use of the
internet.
 And should be allowed to practice.
Email
When quoting someone else in an e-mail, remove
what isn't directly applicable to your reply.
Don't automatically quote the entire body of
messages you are replying to when it's not
necessary.
Leave only the minimum necessary to provide context
for your reply.
Nobody likes reading a long message in quotes for
the third or fourth time, only to be followed by a one
line response: "Yeah, me too."
Forwarding
 There are times when you may receive a
personal e-mail and you might want others
to see it. Perhaps it is funny, or maybe it
makes you angry. If this mail is sent only to
you, you have no right to share it with
others.
 E-mail belongs to the sender. Sharing it is
not only bad manners, it is ethically wrong.
 It is extremely rude to forward personal
email to mailing lists (list-serv) or Usenet
without the original author's permission.
Never send chain letters through the
Internet. A chain letter is simply sending
the same e-mail someone sends to you to
other people, just for the sake of sending
the letter.
Never feel pressured to forward on a “chain
letter”, even a “have a nice day” or
religious one!
 Personal letters that are sent to groups of
friends are not e-mails that should ever be
forwarded.
 Any e-mail (letter) that is addressed only
to you and contains personal feelings or
information should never be forwarded on
without permission from the sender.
Forwarding e-mail
 A joke or a chain letter is fair game to be
sent on to others. Impersonal letters that
are sent to multiple people are OK to send
on.
 Bear in mind that most people get tired of
seeing forwards filling up their mailbox and
would rather not have to deal with them.
Bad manners!
 Personal e-mails are sometimes copied
onto newsgroups or message boards. This
is an example of extremely poor net
manners.
Writing an E-mail
Be professional and careful in what you say about
others.
Email can be easily forwarded and often archived or
stored, so whatever you say may come back to
haunt you.
Never do personal e-mail in a server that you are
using at work unless you are conscious and aware
that it is going to probably be read by others.
They own the server and have that right.
Chat
 Many people enjoy chatting. Chat rooms
can be fun, but they can be dangerous.
Most purveyors of pornography and
advertising use names from chat rooms to
gather names for targeting.
 Students should be reminded regularly not
to reveal any personal information to
individuals that they do not already know.
Chat
 Chat is generally considered to be very informal;
done much in the way you would chat with a
very close friend. For the most part, all rules for
grammar and punctuation are suspended.
 Often those chatting use an internet form of
shorthand to communicate to allow the
conversation to be faster. Since the
conversation is typed the shorthand allows
greater speed.
Chatting
 Unfortunately, chatting has become such a
common form of communication among
students that they use the “suspended
rules” of chat in e-mails and other
communications.
 This is done not so much out of laziness
as a lack of knowledge and inexperience.
 This must be addressed in the classroom.
 Many interest groups have chat areas
within their web sites that are used for
their own chats. If you enter a chat room
and find a meeting going on, you should
leave if you are asked.
Chat Rooms
 Be especially careful with public chats and
message boards as these areas are open
to the entire world.
 Never post things that you are not
completely sure are true. If in
doubt…don’t.
Private Chats
 When you are having a private chat with a
friend you should consider everything you
hear as private. Don't tell your other
friends what your friend may have said
during the chat, this is a private
conversation.
 The same rules apply to IM chats.
Emoticons
 Emoticons are symbols that represent a
comment. Almost all internet users are
familiar with “lol” or laughing out loud, but
there are literally dozens of emoticons.
 The definition: Emoticon - Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia
 The symbols:
Basic Emoticons & Smilies
High-Tech Dictionary Emoticons
Humor
 Be careful when using sarcasm and humor.
 Without face to face communications the
other person may take your words as
criticism.
 When being humorous, use emoticons to
express humor. (tilt your head to the left to
see the emoticon smile) :-) means a happy
face.
Gossip
 Just because it is easy to spread
information on the “Net” doesn't mean it is
right to do so. Always stop and think.
Never spread rumors. If you are angry or
upset it is better to write e-mails and hold
them until later to send. Read them again
when you are not angry to see if they
should be rewritten.
List Serv and News Groups
The Internet is a limited resource that needs to be
conserved. If you lose interest in a newsgroup or listserv, unsubscribe from it so that the postings or
messages do not clog up the network being sent to you.
Do not send messages to a 100 people, when you only
want 5 to see it.
And if you must cross-post messages to multiple news
groups, include the name of the groups at the top of the
mail message with an apology for any duplication.
Follow any and all guidelines that the list owner has posted;
the list owner establishes the local "netiquette" standards
for her/his list.
Joining a Group
 When you join a list serv or news group, monitor the messages for a few
days to get a feel for what common questions are asked, and what
topics are deemed off-limits. This is commonly referred to as lurking.
When you feel comfortable with the group, then you can start posting.
 See if there is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for a group that you
are interested in joining. Veteran members get annoyed when they see
the same questions every few weeks.
 When signing up for a group, save your subscription confirmation letter
for reference. That way if you go on vacation you will have the
subscription address for suspending mail.
 When posting a question to a discussion group, request that responses
be directed to you personally. Post a summary or answer to your
question to the group.
Discussion Boards, List Serv and
News Groups
 Be courteous and respectful of other
people. Rude or abusive behavior can
cause the Internet community to use its
own form to chastise you. Individual or
collective "voices" may chose to inform
and sometimes even ostracize you with
"flame" messages. Boorish behavior will
be reported eventually to the Network
Administrator.
List serv and News Groups
 Never post an advertisement in news
groups, unless it is a specially chartered
“for sale” newsgroup.
 Sending unsolicited advertisements with email is also considered rude and in
violation of the spirit of the Internet.
List Serves and Newsgroups
Sending a subscription or unsubscribe notice
directly to the list instead of to a listserv is
annoying to others. Only messages meant to be
read by the entire group should go to the list.
Send a personal mail message aimed at one
person to that person. Not to a publicly
distributed news group or list-serv. Otherwise,
be prepared to get e-mail messages teasing you
or expressing people's annoyance.
Teach Responsible Use
 Acting responsibly and following general
customs allows everyone to experience
the benefits of open communication,
information, and resources of the Internet.
Cyberspace can be a very fun and
enjoyable place and a useful tool when
used correctly.