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 Study
Guide: What's Proper, and Improper, in Online
Communications
As an online
student, the vast majority of your interactions
will be in written form. To be successful
in this type of environment, it will help if you
are comfortable expressing ideas and feelings in
writing. But, with the Internet,
you’ll need more than just the ability to
write – you also need to understand what is
considered proper and improper when communicating
online. There are several, probably
hundreds, of resources that discuss this
etiquette for the Internet (or
“netiquette”), but here are some of the
most important rules you should know about
communicating on message boards, chat rooms and
via email.
- Be
Considerate. Communication is
communication – whether online, on
the phone or face-to-face. Always
use a tone and voice that’s
considerate, communicating in a manner
you’d expect other people to use
with you. Remember, even if
you’re a seasoned Internet user
– not everyone is. Use
complete words, and avoid the common
acronyms and smiley faces you might use
in a less formal chat session.
- Get
to the Point. In email, chat
and any posting – be as concise as
possible. People will lose
interest, or lose site of the point
you’re trying to make, if your
message is too long. Also, use
short plain sentences, considering that
not everyone’s first language is
English.
- Subject
Lines. Always include a subject
line. Keep them short, yet
descriptive and informative. Good
subject lines help others determine what
they want to read. And, in email,
many use subject lines as a way of
organizing their inboxes.
- Signatures.
In discussion boards and emails
specifically, always identify who you are
with a signature line. This should
include at least your name and email if
not your phone number and address as
well. It is especially important to
include contact information when
communicating with instructors and
university staff, since they will not
know immediately who you are by your
email address and may have to spend time
searching files to find you.
- Threads.
When participating in a discussion group
or message board environment, always
respond using the thread that was started
as opposed to starting a new
thread. This simply helps people
follow the flow of information a bit more
logically without having to jump from one
discussion to another.
- Stay
On Topic. Don’t use a
discussion board or chat room for
anything other than its intended
topic. If you need to have a
separate conversation with one or more
people, take it “off-line”
– to an email, Instant Message or
other chat environment.
- Format.
Send emails in plain text – not
everyone’s email client can handle
HTML or Rich Text formats today.
Don’t type in capital letters,
online that means you’re
shouting. Likewise, don’t type
in all lower case – simply use
proper English. And, always try to
quote the message you’re responding
to so the recipient can relate your note
back to his or her original.
- Proofread.
Read everything before you send or submit
it. And, never write or send
anything when you’re angry.
Additional
Resources
A good
place to start might be Webopedia, the online
encyclopedia. You can get a definition of
netiquette, as well as link out to other
definitions for email, newsgroups and more. http://webopedia.internet.com/TERM/n/netiquette.html
And, after
you’ve combed the Internet and learned all
there is to know about good form, take this
netiquette quiz to test your knowledge. http://www.albion.com/netiquette/netiquiz.html
Probably the
leading written source you can find, online or at
your local bookstore, is:
- “Netiquette”
by Virginia Shea.
You can also
access this same information online at http://www.albion.com/netiquette/book/index.html.
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