Netiquette, the common rules of Internet courtesy, is an important factor in getting along in Cyberspace. The most common usage is when you write communications, whether for person-to-person email or posts to discussion groups. Let's look at a typical Internet exchange.
Let's say that your visiting a group that discusses TV westerns. You might see a message like this:
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Subject: Zorro's horse's name?
Can anyone tell me the name of Zorro's horse on the Walt Disney TV series? I need it for an article I'm writing, but am
having no luck with Internet searches.
TIA
Otto
And a response like this:
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Subject: RE: Zorro's horse's name?
>Can anyone tell me the name of Zorro's horse on the Walt Disney TV series?
AFAIR, it was "Tornado". HTH.
Brunhilde
First, notice the subject line. It's important that anyone can quickly tell what the message is about. Many people subscribe to dozens of discussion groups and lists, sometimes receiving hundreds of emails per day. Messages with vague or cute subject titles are likely to be skipped by these people. Although every discussion group seems to have at least one or two regular member who read every post, if you want to reach a wider audience, be very specific in your subject titles. Your goal is for people to be able to tell what your message is about without opening it.
The reply adds "RE:" and repeats the original subject line exactly. If Geraldine wanted to change the subject slightly, she might write something like this:
Subject: TV horse's names (was Zorro's horse's name?)
This tells people that there's a new subject being started, but it comes from and is related to the other message.
What about the strange words in the messages? You'll see a lot of these on the Internet, especially in chat rooms. They are simply ways to indicate often-used phrases without having to type all the words. TIA is "Thanks In Advance". AFAIR is "As Far As I Remember". HTH is "Hope This Helps". (Here's a site where you can find translations of most chat terms: http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/chat.html).
Notice that Geraldine didn't include the entire contents of Otto's post in her reply. In replies, you should either paraphrase or crop messages down to a few important points. Do include some version of what you're replying to, though. There may have been several others posts since the first and readers may need help remembering what you're talking about or they may not have read any of the earlier messages at all. Use the right angle bracket, >, to mark text that is carried over from previous posts, adding more brackets for posts further down the line.
>Message 1
>>Message 2
Your message.
Each message should be a self-contained module with a clear subject and an easy-to-follow thread inside. OK, I admit that only a few discussion group members are so well organized, but it's a good model to imitate. And when you see such a message, you'll know it's a classy one!
Avoid posts that say nothing more than, "Me, too.", or "I agree." Most lists have a limit as to how many messages can be displayed at one time. As new ones are posted, older ones are removed from the bottom of the page. A dozen "Me, too." posts can push something important or interesting into limbo.
Stay on topic. A group devoted to TV westerns doesn’t want to read anyone's views on politics or religion or anything else not related to TV westerns. If you feel the urge to rant or tell your life story, find a different group (or start your own). People who consistently violate the stay-on-topic rule can be banned from monitored discussion groups by the group host setting up a filter that rejects any message from your computer.
And speaking of rants, consider that every word you post to a discussion group or send in an email to a stranger is public. Never write anything you don't want your family, friends, or boss to read; never reveal any details of your personal life that you don't want to share with the world. Once you send your message, you have zero control over who sees it, who it is passed on to, or where else it may be posted. As with computer security, this is another case where paranoia is your friend.