This is a basic page on how to be a responsible net user in reference to email and usenet posting. It consists of a list of what I consider to be the most important guidelines and a collection of links to other documents from around the web.
I highly recommend reading these before you send anything to any electronic public forum.
Mailing lists, usenet newsgroups, open chat rooms or virtual worlds, and other groups of people linked electronically are referred to as "public forums" or "public communication" in the following (even when they are subscription only and limited in audience). Private email (or a private ICQ message or the like) is a private message sent to one or two people. Private email sent to any group of people (three or more) - even if not a formal mailing list - should be considered "public communication"
The etiquette for public and private forums are a bit different. Etiquette for public forums is clearly labelled below - otherwise the guideline should be considered as applying to all electronic communication.
Don't send chain letters out. Most especially not to a public forum. Any message that contains a line like "send this to all your friends" should be considered a chain letter. Chain letters that ask for money to be sent via the US mail are illegal in any communication and should be reported to the Postal Inspector's office.
Avoid sending out advertisements to public forums unless within the published guidelines (if such exist) for that area. Its ok to send out personal "for sales" and such to eastalk (a local mailing list where such personal ads are specifically allowed in the charter) but it is very probably not ok to mail out an ad for a big corporation.
Keep in mind the possible locations of your audience. Don't send out a message advertising your old refrigerator to a wide area (statewide, national or international) forum. Sending out an invite for a friday evening pizza party is probably of little interest to someone 5000 miles away.
A message should usually contain more original content than quoted content. Quoting all of a message, then adding "me too" is very bad form.
Quoting private email in any public context (usenet, mailing list, web page, print publication etc) should be avoided unless the author grants specific permission. Ask for permission.
Signatures should be short (1-3 lines is usually quite adequate). Its better to include your preferred email address and your personal web page (if you have one) than to include a long list of personal information.
Text content in a message is preferable to other kinds of content
(specifically HTML) unless you
Avoid sending attachments or binary files unless you know the recipient
wants them and has the software to read them. Don't assume that
In particular, don't send unsolicited executables in any electronic form. If you get an executable from someone Don't Open It! Its likely to be a virus. Virus checkers are not always up to date so they may not catch a problem. Throw it away. Now. If you do run an executable you received in your email (ICQ...), be prepared for disaster (usually expensive disaster).
Forwarding the latest hilarious joke that someone sent you electronically is not always appreciated as much by the recipients as it was by you. It is particularly not appreciated in public forums.
"Vacation" programs that automagically send notices that people are on vacation are neither particularly helpful nor particularly wise. It is quite possible to set up vacation loops where one machine sends a vacation message to another - only to be responded with another vacation message and so on - this can make the machines involved very cranky. And crankify the network too.
The writer of a message owns the copyright - even without registering it.
Lower case is easier to read than upper case. Mixed case (as in normal English) is easier yet.
Reasonable length paragraphs (tending to the short) are far more appropriate than long paragraphs.
Don't flame people in public for spelling, grammar, punctuation mistakes. This is not a formal publication medium, it is interpersonal communication and informality is the norm. If you must comment, do it in a private communication.
If you are going to criticize someone by email, be very aware that things
often sound harsher in email than in person. It is often better to sit
on a critical message overnight and consider it afresh in the
morning.
The canonical message to this effect is :
"Sit on your hands.
Several of these documents repeat the same information, but most offer at least a slightly different slant on it since each writer finds different things acceptable or annoying.