From: samuels@waldron.stanford.edu (Steve Samuels)
Subject: Netiquette, the Net, and You
Organization: Psychology Dept, Stanford Univ.
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 00:12:49 GMT


[Many apologies for posting this a second time.  I found some excellent
comments in an odd file that I had not included in the first version and
really belong here.  The additions are slight, but important.]

Greetings and salutations.  The following is a combined effort of myself
and those on the Phish Net this summer regarding netiquette and issues you
might want to think about before you post.  We did this in the hopes
that folks might adopt similar guidelines for themselves.

Before starting, I should point out that nobody, repeat NOBODY, can tell
you what and how to post (unless someone, like an employer, is paying
for your account).  This being America (and USENET), you can pretty much
do what you want (within reason, which I'm not going to discuss).  Yet
because of that fact, you must be self-policing.  If everybody did what
they wanted, the group would get way out of control and become almost
useless due to the shear number of ridiculous posts (e.g.  Dead-net).

So here are a few thoughts and ideas that I use as heuristics:

1) While criticism is important, flaming is almost always useless.

        Criticizing someone can be useful.  It lets someone know that
you believe what they did/said is inappropriate, and can foster
intellectual debate.  If you post something debatable or highly
opinionated, expect some replies which disagree with your position.
Constructive criticism includes what you find inappropriate and why.  It
contains NO direct attack on personality, personal hygiene, or
biological background (i.e.  flaming).  Flaming someone publicly on the
net is always a useless waste of time.  Which leads to number 2....


2) Never post when a direct email will suffice!

        Probably the most important rule of posting, and certainly for
flaming.  Ask yourself if this post is interesting to the net as a
whole, or simply the person you are responding to.  Also, if the post is
only of use to a LOCAL clientele (e.g. looking for roommates), try and
distribute it locally.  Flames, almost always, should be emailed:

a) it will get direct attention, rather then be one of many posts.

b) the person will not have to defend themselves in open forum, and thus
will be more likely to be convinced by you, instead of becoming
protectively entrenched in their position.

c) the rest of us do not care to read your diatribe (and some gentle
people become hurt by even the notion of flaming).  We are NOT impressed
by your flaming ability and clever use of vindictive composition.

d) you may find yourself in a very awkward position if you misinterpret
someone.  Due to the nature of this medium, some comments are inevitably
going to be taken the wrong way.  Don't compound the error by shrieking. 

e) will your comment settle the issue once and for all, or just add fuel
to the fire?  If you think the former, you're probably wrong...
everybody wants the last word.


3) Request email replies for specific information.

        If you want some info on something that many people may know,
ask for email responses.  That way you don't generate 15 responses like
the recent Llama chorus lyrics request.  Also, make sure you offer the
response to anyone who would like to also have that info.  If you get
enough requests for the information, perhaps a posting of findings is
proper.  Otherwise, you get the info (and therefore you get the 15
responses) and then email it to those who also wanted it.


4) Avoid multiple postings by not answering a question immediately.

        How many times have we seen 15 responses to a question that's
already in the FAQ file?  When someone (usually a newcomer) asks a
question that has already been discussed, don't respond that minute.
See if anyone else answered it already.  First, decide if email is the
best response.  If you think it's a good idea to post a response, at
least read the rest of the list, or even better, wait a day to see if
someone else responded.


5) Newcomers are people too! (FAQ and subscribe/unsubscribe)

        It is NOT someone's fault just because they are a newcomer.  How
could they know the Llama lyrics problem had been discussed to death?
Have some patience for goodness sakes, try to put yourself in their
shoes.  For example, how is it possible that a newcomer would know what
the FAQ even is?  The great irony is that we've set up a system whereby
the only people who know where the answers are located, are the ones who
already know the answers!  Only someone who is familiar with USENET even
knows that news.groups have an FAQ file.  Our group is very likely to
attract people who have never been involved with USENET before, and
therefore have no knowledge of FAQ's or netiquette.

        Because of this reason, I'm directing this post to YOU who are
already on the net!  Someone who subscribes next week may never see
this.  This person is _guaranteed_ to ask an FAQ.  It's important they
we handle that person as a peer, and not a subordinate.  This also
covers people who subscribe to the list rather than the "request"
address.  If they knew about the request-site, they'd use it!  In
addition, you should unsubscribe yourself when you leave for an extended
period of time (e.g. collegiate summer vacation).  This will keep
sysadmin's from sending batches of "unsubscribe" letters in the spring.


6) Be specific.

        Remember you're typing, not speaking.  Because of this, many
_obvious_ things to you are not obvious to your audience.  That's why we
have the smiley ( ;^) ) characters, to denote sarcasm or humor.  A
perfect example of being ambiguous was someone who wrote, "*I* always
thought the words were...."  Someone else was upset at the fact that
this person was not only wrong, but also had clearly set themselves up
as an authority due to the emphasis on the "*I*"!  The author meant
"*I*" in a self-deprecating way, to mean more of a "well here's one
lowly opinion, take it for what its worth."  Notice that these two
construals of the writing are _direct_opposites_!  If we heard the
person speak, it would be easy to tell exactly which one he meant.

	Even though the use of smileys might be considered an abuse of
punctuation and a reduction of humor (like a laugh track), they are
necessary in this medium of interactive, yet one-way, communication.
People write as if they were speaking, but it is impossible to register
emotional tone or facial expression.  Remember, not everyone else is as
clever as you think you might be.  Beware of ambiguity, and use smileys!


7) Trim the post you're responding to as much as possible.

        If you're reacting to one line, don't include the whole post,
edit out what you don't need.  One thing to beware of though, is taking
things out of context.  Also make sure you attribute the quote to the
right person.  It gets a little tricky when you're responding to a
response to a response to a response...


8) Try to avoid long meta-discussions and long off-topic discussions

        There's nothing wrong with a meta-post or an off-topic thread
every now and then.  However, when there are twenty ongoing messages
between 2 people, the community grows tired of it.  As usual, take it to
email.  In that vein, please respond to this meta-post via email unless
you have something which you think is important to the whole community.
[Telling me I'm some pompous, self-involved, net-dictator is probably
not important to everyone else.  Email me, eh?  We'll discuss why
you didn't read (10) and what species I think your mother is.]


9) Avoid "Me, too", "Thank you", and spelling correction posts.

        If there's one thing that really ticks me off it's the number of
people who find it important to post something that adds absolutely
nothing to the community like a "me, too!" or "thank you".  And it so
often happens that these two word posts are accompanied by a completely
untrimmed article and a 20 line .signature.  If there's a debate about
something, add to it!  If there's a mixed reaction to a show, tell us
how you felt.  We've already seen the first article, we don't need to
see it again.  Thank people via email.  And please, NEVER post to tell
someone they spelled something wrong or their grammar is incorrect.
Email them.  That way you can get their four-letter response personally.


10) To thine own self be true.

        These are _my_ heuristics, for _me_.  I don't insist that you
adopt them, nor will I ever try to enforce them.  If they seem like good
ideas, by all means use them or adapt them for your use.  I developed
them from netiquette readings, psychology, common sense, and common
courtesy.  Remember, everything you write is going to be read by lots of
people.  Think before you type - it's a matter of strife and breadth.

HammaH

"We're going to assume a few things about reality.  One, it exists.
That's not a necessary assumption, but I find it comforting." -R. Noble
Newsgroups: rec.music.phish