Netiquette

2. Netiquette • Internet etiquette, the correct form of behavior to be used while working on the Internet and Intranet. It can be summed up as, "Don't waste computer resources and don't be rude."

3. Electronic Mail or Electrocuting Mail • Decide yourself. What kind of mail you want to send to your client, colleague or Boss? • Every e-mail message sent by an employee reflects upon your organization's credibility, not to mention the professionalism of the writer.

4. E-mail messages sent inadvertently to the wrong recipient can compromise confidences, create hard feelings, and cause embarrassment. • Electronic correspondence that is menacing, harassing, pornographic, or otherwise inappropriate can trigger litigation.

5. Netiquette guidelines Beware hidden Readers • If confidentiality is an issue, don’t use e-mail. It’s not secure. You may intend to send an e-mail to only one person, but an inaccurate key-stroke or the recipient’s decision to forward your message could land your e-mail on dozens, hundreds, or thousands of unintended readers’ screens. Never use e-mail to communicate trade secrets, proprietary information, or any news that could damage the organisation or its employees were the message to read by an unintended reader.

6. Write as though Mom were reading • Regardless of the intended reader, write your message as if your boss, the media, or Mom were looking over your shoulder. People treat e-mail too casually, sending electronic messages they would never record on paper. Don’t write anything you would not feel comfortable saying in an elevator crowded with colleagues, customers, and competitors.

7. Remain gender neutral • You never know where your e-mail will land, so avoid sexist language that could offend or rankle others. Your intended reader may be a male, but the ultimate decision-maker could be the female executive (the hidden reader) who receives a forwarded copy of your original message. Sending a message full of masculine pronouns (he,his, him, etc.) could lose you an account for good.

8. Keep the Organization’s harassment and discrimination policies in mind • Sexual harassment and racial discrimination lawsuits have resulted from employees sending improper internal and external e-mail messages. All electronic communication should adhere to the rules set forth in the organization’s harassment and discrimination policies.

9. Don’t use e-mail to let off steam • Upset or angry? Compose yourself before composing your message. Once you hit ‘send’, your e-mail is on its way through cyberspace and probably can’t be retrieved. Don’t take the chance of sending a poorly worded message that could worsen an already difficult situation. If communication is urgently needed, ask a trusted colleague to read your document before your send it. If you have the luxury of time, give yourself a day or two to calm down before sending a potentially damaging message.

10. Control the Urge to Flame • More biting than a thoughtlessly worded message, an e-mail flame is a document that is hostile, blunt, rude, insensitive, or obscene. Flames are unique to e-mail, as the slow pace of snail mail does not accommodate immediate, heated reactions. Flames, and the obscene and abusive language that feed them, have no place in a business environment (or a personal one, for that matter).

11. Respect Readers’ Time • An electronic mailbox that is stuffed with recipes, jokes, health warnings, advertisements, and requests for charitable donations can be a time-consuming annoyance. Do not use the company computer system to send or forward spam or electronic junk mail. Need convincing? In some states spamming is against the law. A violation can get you a fine or possibly jail time.

12. Never Reply to Spam • If you are on the receiving end of a spam mailing, do not reply to the ‘unsubscribe’ option. Often, your reply accomplishes just the opposite. Your reply confirms your e-mail address and may encourage the sender to forward your address to other spammers. Replying to spam also can be a waste of time, as senders sometimes use one-time-only addresses to blast their spam into cyberspace. Your irate reply could land in a black hole. So why bother?

13. Do not mail to the World • Send e-mail messages only to readers with a legitimate need for your information. Mail to your group list only when it is appropriate for everyone on the list to receive the message. Do not reply to a message unless you have something to contribute.

14. Copy with Care • Sending a carbon copy (Cc) or blind carbon copy (Bcc) to a recipient who doesn’t need to read your messae wastes everyone’s time. As a rule, address your message to the person you want to motivate to act and send carbon copies strictly as a courtesy. Carbon copy recipients are not required to reply to messages. So don’t get upset when a response is not forthcoming.

15. Don’t oversell your message • Just because you have the ability to mark messages ‘urgent’ doesn’t mean you should. Reserve the urgent classification for messages that demand immediate action. Otherwise, you may develop a reputation as a writer who values your own time above your reader’s.

16. Ask permission to forward material • Do you subscribe to an e-zine or electronic newsletter that may be of interest to an associate or customer? Don’t hit ‘forward’ without asking permission from the individual who originally sent the material as well as your intended recipient.

17. Inquire about attachments • Some organizations prohibit the opening of e-mail attachments. Before sending an attachment, ask if the reader would prefer to receive the information as an attachment or in the field as part of the message itself.

18. Incorporate a Salutation and Signature • A salutation and signature will establish your role in the document’s history, no matter how often it’s forwarded. As an added benefit, your signature signals the end, sparing your reader the aggravation of scrolling the screen for more copy.

19. Beware the Exclamation Point! • Some writers try to enliven their e-mail and generate reader interest by slapping an exclamation point onto the end of nearly every sentence. Don’t fall into this trap. Pump up your writing with descriptive language and well-crafted sentences.

20. Resist the Urge to Capitalize • Eager for reader attention, many e-mail writers use all capital letters. That’s a bad idea on two counts. For one thing, the eye is accustomed to reading a mix of capital and lowercase letters. Writing uppercase-only messages will slow the reader down and may impede understanding and acceptance of your message. • Another concern is that readers sometimes interpret messages written in capital letters as a form of shouting. If you write entirely in the uppercase, you run the risk of losing recipients before they ever start reading. Do yourself and your readers a favor: Stick with standard sentence style.

21. Apply the Same Rule to Lowercase Letters • Some people think an e-mail message that’s written entirely in lowercase letters conveys a breezy, informal tone. No. Business correspondence that is written entirely in the lowercase is likely to give the impression that your are lazy and unprofessional in your writing.

22. Keep an Eye on Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation • Your readers will. You wouldn’t walk into the president’s office or a customer’s showroom and start speaking gibberish. Why, then, would you send an e-mail message that is a written form of gibberish? Professionalism extends to all forms of communication : written, verbal and electronic.

23. Think before Requesting a Receipt • Imagine writing a crucial e-mail message that must be read and acted upon. Short of receiving an electronic response, how can you be certain your message has been received and read? • The quickest, easiest route to peace of mind is to select the ‘receipt notification’ option on your screen. When the reader opens your message, you will be notified automatically. Exercise this option with caution, however. Some readers will resent the implication that you do not trust them to open and read their e-mail. In a pressing situation, the better option might be to phone your recipient with a quick heads-up that the message is on its way and you would appreciate a timely response.

24. Keep your Editorial Comments to Yourself • If you receive an e-mail message that is short on style but long on mechanical and grammatical errors, keep your editorial comments to yourself. Just as few speakers appreciate having their grammar corrected publicly by co-workers, few e-mail writers enjoy receiving unsolicited critiques of their electronic writing. Leave that job to management or the professional writing coach management hires to help employees polish their electronic and business writing skills.

25. Treat others as You Would Have Them Treat You • If you receive someone else’s e-mail by mistake, don’t trash it. Hit ‘reply’ to redirect it to the sender, along with a brief note about the mix-up.

26. Consider E-Mail’s Limitations • E-mail may be the best way to deliver news fast, but it’s not necessarily the best route to a qauick reply. Your reader is under no obligation to check incoming messages regularly, if at all. And it is inappropriate to send a follow-up message demanding to know why a recipient has not responded to your message. • For an immediate response to a pressing issue, don’t rely on e-mail.l Instead, pick up the phone or schedule a face-to-face meeting.

27. A responsible Netizen is a Global Citizen Mind your … Thank you !