Netiquette

Netiquette is an informal set of "Rules of the Road" for the Internet. Follow the rules and avoid incidents that may harm your business or lose you some friends. Here are some of the more important ones.

Reply! If you receive an e-mail, always reply unless it would be silly to do so. The sender cannot know that you actually received it. Don't Send Very Large Attachments Out Of The Blue Although more people are on broadband, remember many are not. And while digital cameras take ever higher quality photos, the penalty is that file sizes are ever larger. Don't be tempted to send a series of images to someone without first checking with them. Respect Privacy Don't forward an e-mail you have received to someone outside your business without the permission of the sender unless it is reasonable to do so. Do not copy a posting on one List to another List without the express permission of the writer. Respect Copyright Just because you "found" something on the Internet does not mean you can use it freely. Copyright still belongs with the copyright holder, even if you used a search engine to find it. This applies equally to images as well as text! Mind Your Language Assume nothing about someone you are corresponding with for the first time, they might be highly offended even by mildly blue language. DO NOT SHOUT Typing whole sentences or even whole emails in upper case is surprisingly annoying to a lot of people who find it very uncomfortable to read. Avoid Confrontation Even the mildest forms of criticisms can come across in an e-mail as quite severe, remember, your correspondent is getting it in black and white. Don't Jump To Conclusions It is all too easy to make an assumption about why someone has done something - and get it wrong. If you're pointing out a mistake, do so without making out they're an idiot. Do Not Edit Original Text When you are replying to or forwarding an e-mail, never edit the original text, even to make helpful grammar or spelling corrections. However: Do Delete Extraneous Text When you are replying to a long e-mail or post, delete text you are not responding to. It makes it easier to understand your reply and follow a thread. However, do not delete so much that the context becomes unclear. Do Not Quote Out Of Context When quoting text, be very careful to retain the original meaning. It can cause endless arguments about what was meant and you might be accused of deliberately distorting the writer's meaning.

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