netiquette

n. Internet etiquette, accepted rules for behavior on the Internet, Internet manners (Internet, Computers)

Netiquette, a portmanteau of "network etiquette", is the convention on electronic forums (Usenet, mailing lists, live chat, and Internet forums) to facilitate efficient interaction. These rules were described in IETF RFC 1855. However, like many Internet phenomena, the concept and its application remain in a state of flux, and vary from community to community. The points most strongly emphasized about USENET netiquette often include avoiding cross-posting, using simple electronic signatures, and other techniques used to minimize the effort required to read a post. Netiquette guidelines posted by IBM for employees utilizing Second Life in an official capacity, however, focus on basic professionalism, maintaining a tenable work environment, and protecting IBM's intellectual property. Similarly, some Usenet guidelines call for use of unabbreviated English while users of online chat protocols like IRC and instant messaging protocols like SMS often encourage trends in the opposite direction.
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n. netiquette, Internet etiquette, accepted rules for behavior on the Internet, Internet manners (Internet, Computers)

n. netiquette, Internet etiquette, Internet manners

<convention, networking> /net'ee-ket/ or /net'i-ket/ Network etiquette.
The conventions of politeness recognised on Usenet and in mailing lists, such as not (cross-)posting to inappropriate groups and refraining from commercial advertising outside the biz groups.
The most important rule of netiquette is "Think before you post". If what you intend to post will not make a positive contribution to the newsgroup and be of interest to several readers, don't post it! Personal messages to one or two individuals should not be posted to newsgroups, use private e-mail instead.
When following up an article, quote the minimum necessary to give some context to your reply and be careful to attribute the quote to the right person. If the article you are responding to was posted to several groups, edit the distribution ("Newsgroups:") header to contain only those groups which are appropriate to your reply, especially if the original message was posted to one or more inappropriate groups in the first place.
Re-read and edit your posting carefully before you post. Check the spelling and grammar. Keep your lines to less than 70 characters. Don't post test messages (except to test groups) - wait until you have something to say. When posting humorous or sarcastic comments, it is conventional to append a smiley, but don't overuse them.
Before asking a question, read the messages already in the group and read the group's FAQ if it has one. When you do post a question, follow it with "please reply by mail and I will post a summary if requested" and make sure you DO post a summary if requested, or if only a few people were interested, send them a summary by mail. This avoids umpteen people posting the same answer to the group and umpteen others posting "me too"s.
If you believe someone has violated netiquette, send them a message by _private e-mail_, DO NOT post a follow-up to the news. And be polite, they may not realise their mistake, they might be a beginner or may not even have been responsible for the "crime" - their account may have been used by someone else or their address forged.
Be proud of your postings but don't post just to see your name in pixels. Remember: your future employer may be reading.
Netiquette for Usenet Site Administrators.
"net.acceptable".
[Jargon File]
(1999-10-18)