In the archives is the complete text of this "excerpt" from
_Netiquette_. To receive a copy, send mail to [log in to unmask]
and in the body of the mail enter "GET NETIQUET TXT". Thanks to Albion
Books for permission to make this available via HOCKEY-L. If anyone
thinks this should be posted sometime during the upcoming season, let me
know.
cheers,
Wayne Smith
The College Hockey Discussion List administrator
Systems Group - CAPS BITNET/CREN: wts@maine
University of Maine System internet: [log in to unmask]
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T H E C O R E R U L E S O F N E T I Q U E T T E
from _Netiquette_ by Virginia Shea
Albion Books, San Francisco / [log in to unmask]
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INTRODUCTION:
What is Netiquette? Simply stated, it's network etiquette--that is, the
etiquette of cyberspace. And "etiquette" means "the forms required by
good breeding or prescribed by authority to be required in social or
official life." In other words, Netiquette is a set of rules for
behaving properly online.
When you enter any new culture--and cyberspace has its own
culture--you're liable to commit a few social blunders. You might
offend people without meaning to. Or you might misunderstand what
others say and take offense when it's not intended. To make matters
worse, something about cyberspace makes it easy to forget that you're
interacting with other real people--not just ASCII characters on a
screen, but live human characters.
So, partly as a result of forgetting that people online are still real,
and partly because they don't know the conventions, well-meaning
cybernauts, especially new ones, make all kinds of mistakes.
The book _Netiquette_ has a dual purpose: to help net newbies minimize
their mistakes, and to help experienced cyberspace travelers help the
newbies. The premise of the book is that most people would rather make
friends than enemies, and that if you follow a few basic rules, you're
less likely to make the kind of mistakes that will prevent you from
making friends.
The list of core rules below, and the explanations that follow, are
excerpted from the book. They are offered here as a set of general
guidelines for cyberspace behavior. They won't answer all your
Netiquette questions. But they should give you some basic principles to
use in solving your own Netiquette dilemmas.
THE RULES IN BRIEF:
RULE 1: REMEMBER THE HUMAN
Never forget that the person reading your mail or posting is, indeed, a
person, with feelings that can be hurt.
Corollary 1 to Rule #1: It's not nice to hurt other people's feelings.
Corollary 2: Never mail or post anything you wouldn't say to your
reader's face.
Corollary 3: Notify your readers when flaming.
RULE 2: ADHERE TO THE SAME STANDARDS OF BEHAVIOR ONLINE THAT YOU FOLLOW
IN REAL LIFE
Corollary 1: Be ethical.
Corollary 2: Breaking the law is bad Netiquette.
RULE 3: KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN CYBERSPACE
Corollary 1: Netiquette varies from domain to domain.
Corollary 2: Lurk before you leap.
RULE 4: RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE'S TIME AND BANDWIDTH
Corollary 1: It's OK to think that what you're doing at the moment
is the most important thing in the universe, but don't expect anyone
else to agree with you.
Corollary 2: Post messages to the appropriate discussion group.
Corollary 3: Try not to ask stupid questions on discussion groups.
Corollary 4: Read the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document.
Corollary 5: When appropriate, use private email instead of posting
to the group.
Corollary 6: Don't post subscribe, unsubscribe, or FAQ requests.
Corollary 7: Don't waste expert readers' time by posting basic
information.
Corollary 8: If you disagree with the premise of a particular
discussion group, don't waste the time and bandwidth of the members
by telling them how stupid they are. Just stay away.
Corollary 9: Conserve bandwidth when you retrieve information from
a host or server.
RULE 5: MAKE YOURSELF LOOK GOOD ONLINE
Corollary 1: Check grammar and spelling before you post.
Corollary 2: Know what you're talking about and make sense.
Corollary 3: Don't post flame-bait.
RULE 6: SHARE EXPERT KNOWLEDGE
Corollary 1: Offer answers and help to people who ask questions on
discussion groups.
Corollary 2: If you've received email answers to a posted question,
summarize them and post the summary to the discussion group.
RULE 7: HELP KEEP FLAME WARS UNDER CONTROL
Corollary 1: Don't respond to flame-bait.
Corollary 2: Don't post spelling or grammar flames.
Corollary 3: If you've posted flame-bait or perpetuated a flame war,
apologize.
RULE 8: RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE'S PRIVACY
Don't read other people's private email.
RULE 9: DON'T ABUSE YOUR POWER
The more power you have, the more important it is that you use it well.
RULE 10: BE FORGIVING OF OTHER PEOPLE'S MISTAKES
You were a network newbie once too!
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THE RULES EXPLAINED:
(Ed note: see NETIQUET TXT in the HOCKEY-L archives for the remaining
text of this excerpt (about 400 lines)..wts)
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An Albion FreeText excerpted from
_Netiquette_ / by Virginia Shea / Foreward by Guy Kawasaki
160 pages / $19.95 / ISBN 0-9637025-1-3
For more info contact: Albion Books
4547 California St., San Francisco, CA 94118 USA
+1 415-752-7666 / fax +1 415-752-5417 / [log in to unmask]
Or send an email message to [log in to unmask]
with the command "archive send book-info" as the subject.
Copyright 1994 Virginia Shea. FreeText License: Feel free to
make electronic copies of this document for your personal
use. Unauthorized commercial distribution prohibited.
Educational and corporate site licenses available.
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