Netiquette? In simple language, it can be defined as network etiquette(that is, the etiquette of cyber-space). In other words, Netiquette is a set of rules for behaving properly when you are on-line.
When you enter any new culture(and as you know cyber-space 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, cyber-space makes it easy to forget that you are interacting with other real live people who have feelings and can be offended easily.
Here are some basic rules to use in solving your own Netiquette dilemmas or rather stop you from creating one(specially when you are writing work related mails):)
Subject lines: Always include a subject line in your message. Almost all mailers present you with the subject line when you browse your mailbox. Very often it is the only clue the recipient has about the contents when filing and searching for messages. Make the subject line meaningful.
This will allow the reader to skip the emails and read only what they want to(specially when they are extremely busy). If you are replying to a message, but change the subject of the conversation, donot forget to change the subject accordingly.
Keep the message to the point: Messages should be concise and to the point. It is important to remember that some people receive hundreds of e-mail messages a day, so the last thing they want to see is a message from someone who thinks he/she is the Shakespeare in making.
Avoid upper case: Use of upper-case(capital) words is the equivalent of shouting in some one’s ear. This is one of the rudest things you can do.
As a rule do not use upper-case to write the entire paragraph. It is also very difficult to read such statements.
Avoid too many Punctuation!: You must have seen lots of e-mail messages where people put a dozen exclamation marks(Yes!) or ellipses(well.) at the end of a sentence for added emphasis. Important information should be reflected in your text and the content, not in your punctuation.
Use punctuation sparingly, only when needed. Sometimes I feel that excess use of punctuations(exclamation marks, periods etc.) should be fined.
Abbreviations: Abbreviation usage is quite rampant with e-mail. In the quest to save keystrokes, writers trade clarity for confusion(unless the person reading the mails understands the abbreviations just as you do).
It is OK to use these with close friends, but not in a formal or work related e-mail. Then it is a major put off. There are some common abbreviations, I would recommend that you use such as FYI(for your information) and ASAP(as soon as possible). Beyond that, you run the risk of confusing your recipient.
Large Attachments: Don’t send large attachments without checking with the recipient first.
Some people may not be in a position to download large attachments and their work gets slowed down.
Quotes: Try to quote from the original message where relevant. You can break the quoted message down into paragraphs and comment on them individually to make it clearer.
This gives more meaning to the reply as it gives a feeling that you are replying to question as you would do in a conversation.
Courtesy: E-mail is all about communication with other people, and as usual, some basic courtesy never goes amiss. If you are asking for something, don’t forget to use the magic word please. Similarly, if someone helps you our or does you a favour, it never hurts to use the other magic word thank you.
While this might sound trivial, it’s astonishing to know that many people who are perfectly polite in everyday life seem to forget their manners in their e-mail.
Smilies: We all know how important facial expressions and body gestures are to a conversation. Since there are no visual or auditory cues with e-mail, people have come up with something called smilies or smiley. They are simple strings of characters used in the e-mail text to convey the writer’s emotions.
The most common example is:-). Turn your head to the left and you should see a happy face(the colon represent the eyes, the dash represents the nose and the parentheses is the mouth).
They are usually used at the end of sentences and usually refer back to the prior statement. Use them abunduntly as you write to your friends and near and dear ones. You can even use these once in a while when you write formal/business mails to people who you know well. Other wise avoid it! :-) Smile, :-( Sad, -) Wink, :-| Indifference, 8-) Eye-glasses, :-/ Perplexed, :-( Frown(anger or displeasure), :-P Wry smile, -} Leer. There are lots more!
Personal Remarks: Last but not the least, always remember that there is no such thing as a *secure mail system. It is very foolish to send very personal or sensitive information by e-mail. Remember, you are not the only person who could be embarrassed if a delicate message falls into the wrong hands. and mid you most of the time it does!