 | Keep your messages short and to the point.
Many people do not like reading long messages on a computer screen, or
worse, on the small screen of a cell phone or other mobile device.
 | Check your spelling.
Nobody likes trying to read an e-mail with spelling mistakes. Most e-mail
programs today include spell checkers. Please, check your spelling before
sending your messages.
 | Use plain text.
Elaborate text formatting such as Rich Text Format, HTML, and other fancy
e-mail formats can arrive as gibberish to the recipient if their mail
client cannot properly decipher the message. To make sure that your
message is readable, use a plain text format unless you are told otherwise
by the recipient.
 | Use mixed-case letters.
Using all capital letters is considered SHOUTING, and is in bad taste.
Using all lower-case letters can make your message difficult to read. Make
sure that you turn off your caps lock before you start typing an e-mail
message, discussion group posting, or any other form of online
communication.
 | Summarize the contents of your messages in the
subject line.
Summarizing the contents of your messages in the subject will assist the
recipient in organizing and prioritizing his or her e-mail.
 | Compose your e-mails as though they will be
posted publicly.
E-mail is not as private as you may think once it leaves your computer.
Your e-mail can very easily be forwarded by the recipient or printed out
and left somewhere. If your message is safe to read in public, it is safe
enough for e-mail.
 | Only Carbon Copy (CC) your message to those who
need to read it.
People receive a lot of extraneous e-mail messages these days. Carbon
copying your message to those who do not really need to read it will only
add to the problem.
 | Use Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) when sending a
message to a large group of people (especially those who may not know each
other).
Using Blind Carbon Copy to send your message to a large group prevents the
recipients from seeing the list of e-mail addresses that the message was
sent to. By listing all recipients in the "To" field of your
message, you are effectively broadcasting each person's e-mail address to
everyone else on the list.
 | Only send your e-mail messages to those
recipients who wish to receive them.
Most bulk e-mail (e-mail that is sent to a large number of people) is
considered to be spam (junk e-mail). Spam e-mail is considered to be
annoying and unwanted by most people. Unless the message needs to be read
by a large number of people (and in that case you should use blind carbon
copy), do not send it.
 | Include your name at the bottom of your
message.
Some older e-mail programs do not make it easy to identify the sender of
an e-mail message. Including your name and return e-mail address at the
bottom of your message makes it easier for the recipient to identify and
respond to you.
 | Keep file attachments as small as possible.
Large attachments (files over two megabytes) can clog up the recipient's
e-mailbox and can also cause problems with older mail systems. Unless the
recipient gives explicit permission to do so, do not send attachments
larger than two megabytes.
 | Do not re-distribute material that is not
yours.
This is essentially copyright infringement. Taking images from another's
website for re-distribution, forwarding a personal e-mail message, or
sharing files or phrases that do not belong to you is considered to be
rude and in many cases, illegal. Materials include: e-mail messages,
images, programs, music, movies, etc. This practice is often referred to
as "leeching" files.
 | Keep your signatures or "sig files"
short.
Signature files are usually composed of an individual's contact
information and placed at the end of their e-mail message. Signatures
longer than 4-6 lines can get confusing and difficult to read.
 | Use abbreviations wisely.
In the quest to shorten e-mail messages, many people use abbreviations for
common phrases. Typical abbreviations such as BTW and FYI are acceptable
to use, but less well-known abbreviations might be inappropriate or
confusing to those who are new to the Internet.
 | Think before you hit the "send"
button.
Sending harsh, attacking, and otherwise abusive e-mail messages is called
"flaming." It is very easy to respond to an e-mail quickly
without thinking about the ramifications of what you are saying.
Misinterpreting an e-mail message and then firing back a flame response is
very easy to do and only leads to confusion and further flame messages.
Sending a flame message to someone who has "flamed" you will
only worsen the situation. The most agreed upon course of action is to not
respond to a flame message.
 | Read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
Most mailing lists, discussion groups, and newsgroups have prepared a
Frequently Asked Questions document that offers answers to the most
commonly asked questions. Asking questions that are already covered in the
FAQ is often considered rude.
 | Always "lurk" in message boards,
newsgroups, and forums before making your first post.
"Lurking" basically means that you are simply reading the posts
of others without actually posting yourself. Many online forums have very
specific rules of conduct and it is always suggested that you find out as
much as you can about the general operation of a forum before actually
posting.
 | Follow the rules.
If a website, discussion group, or mailing list has posting guidelines in
place, follow them. Failure to do so often irritates the administrators
and could get you kicked out of the group or off of the website. |
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