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All About Netiquette

Netiquette is exactly what the name implies, etiquette for the Internet. One of the greatest benefits of the Internet is the opportunity for people from many diverse backgrounds and beliefs to come together and share information and knowledge. Unfortunately, this is also one of the biggest problems of the Internet as well - with so many people and so many different situations, the opportunities for misunderstanding are multiplied. And because the Internet is world wide and knows no country boundaries, no one can really enforce policies. And to whom would we entrust such duties when so many of us have different beliefs and needs? Please don't overlook this issue: under the Communications Decency Act which was approved and then later struck down as a violation of First Ammendment Rights, discussions of bowel functions was illegal - not just on the internet, but also in other communications media such as television, radio and even telephones.

To avoid such complications in the future, Internet users themselves must govern the way they interact. We assume that freedom of speech is a basic right (though not, unfortunately, a universal right), but even that basic freedom has limits. You will notice that I specifically state in my copyright notice that all material copyrighted by others is used for educational purposes only, which is a specific provision within copyright law that allows for fair usage. Without such a notice, my use of such materials violates copyright laws - and such a violation is not justified by claiming freedom of speech. Nor is it justified by saying that everyone does it! The point is that accepting freedom of speech means accepting the responsibility to use it appropriately and within the limits set. Similarly, by participating in newsgroups or sending email across the Internet, we must accept the responsibility to do so appropriately and within the limits set for such usage.

So, exactly what are these limits?

Tolerance is not really a rule, but it's a good policy nonetheless. The Internet is full of people from all over the world, so there's a good chance that you will come into contact with someone or several someones who have beliefs that differ from your own. Get over it. Accept it. Respect that others have the right to their own beliefs and opinions, whether you agree with them or not. If you cannot discuss such topics civilly, then you should not discuss them at all. You should also be willing to give people the benefit of the doubt: assume that others also respect your rights and are not deliberately trying to insult you. Okay, so you may be wrong in that assumption, but what harm does it do you? On the other hand, assuming that people are deliberately insulting you or your beliefs and responding with angry messages only creates chaos and tends to bring more people into the fray. If someone has insulted you to the point that you can no longer tolerate their messages, then you can always ignore their messages. Most software packages come with filtering features that allow you to automatically block messages from specific people; this is known as setting a kill-file or kill-filter.

"Just the FAQ's, ma'am" - many groups have FAQ files - files that list "frequently asked questions" and provide answers. These files should also explain the purpose of the newsgroup, what types of subjects and posts are appropriate for that newsgroup and what type of subject and posts are not appropriate for that newsgroup. The FAQ file should be posted on the newsgroup on a regular basis and may be available on the World Wide Web as well. You really should read the FAQ before you start posting messages to a newsgroup. In our group, this information is primarily found in the group Charter, while the FAQ files provide information about Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD-FAQ) and the Resources (IBD Resources FAQ) available.

Lurk: not everyone chooses to participate in discussions on a newsgroup. Some people just read the messages and never reply. This is called "lurking," and many people recommend that you "lurk" in a newsgroup for a while before you start participating. This gives you a chance to see how people in the group interact and learn what kind of things are acceptable and what is not acceptable. It may also give you an idea about whether you really want to participate in a particular group at all. Our newsgroup is something of an exception to this rule - we have a tendency to welcome new members (also known as "newbies") at all times, regardless of their amount of experience with newsgroups. Other groups are a lot less tolerant and expect new members to know what they're doing before they jump in and start posting messages.

Stay On-Topic: if you've read the FAQ, you should have a good idea of what topics are appropriate to discuss on a particular newsgroup. Make sure your messages are appropriate.

Don't Shout: WRITING MESSAGES USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IS CONSIDERED THE WRITTEN EQUIVALENT OF SHOUTING. Hey, it makes your message difficult to read, and the whole idea of posting a message is so that it will be read, so shouting kind of defeats the purpose.

Don't Over-Quote: when you reply to a message, it is appropriate to quote part of the original message to make it clear what you are replying to. But, quoting more than 20 lines just to add a "me too!" or "ditto" is a big waste of space and rather annoying. And if everyone keeps quoting whole messages and adding their own replies, each reply gets larger and larger and ends up repeating the same message over and over. It makes reading messages more difficult and takes more time to download the messages. Quoting is useful, but don't over do it! You should also be aware that it is not proper to quote from email when you post a message unless you have explicit permission. Email is considered private communication while newsgroups are public.

Don't Spam: this usage of "spam" basically means an unwanted message, not the luncheon meat made by Hormel. The most common form of spam is unsolicited advertising. Hey, no one really likes commercials, so be careful about posting messages that contain ads. In our group, we do allow people to put in ads for their own web sites, especially if the web site relates to IBD. Other ads are allowed if, and only if, you clearly state that it is an "AD" in the subject line of the message. A message containing information to sell a product is considered an ad whether the person who posts the message actually makes any profit from the sale or not. Other forms of spam include "Make Money Fast," "Work at Home," perpetuation of any of a variety of hoaxes including hoax virus warnings, and chain letters. While the "You're a good friend" and "you have been hugged" type of message isn't necessarily considered spam, it's really not appropriate to post such messages on newsgroups.

Cures and Ads for Cures: If you saw an ad about how to make a million bucks by licking envelopes in your own home, you'd be skeptical - and you should be. Right now there is no known cure for inflammatory bowel disease, but that doesn't seem to stop people from advertising that they have one. Newsgroups are a great place to get information, but not all the information you might find on newsgroups is accurate. Use some common sense - if a promise is too good to be true, then it probably isn't true. That doesn't mean that you can't find products that will help you, but you should be very cautious. Ever so often, someone will mention something or ask a question about Archway Coconut Macaroons and whether they really will "cure" ulcerative colitis. If you research the question, you'll find that newspapers actually printed articles about this little miracle. Unfortunately, they didn't do the proper research. While it is true that some of the oils can help some people with diarrhea, the coconut fibre isn't digestible. That's good if you don't get enough fibre in your diet, but it can also cause severe diarrhea or bowel obstructions which are not only extremely painful, but can be fatal. And then there was the man claiming to be a Greek doctor who cured his patients of ulcerative colitis by turning them upside down and giving them olive oil enemas. You should always consult with your physician before trying something like this.

Hoaxes: Hoaxes tend to come to you by email, but sometimes people are so taken with them they will post the information on a newsgroup. Good intentions are great, and I like a good joke as well as the next person, but hoaxes are not funny. At the least, they are annoying; at their worst, they are destructive.

One of the oldest hoaxes is based on the true story of a terminally ill little boy who wanted to get into the Guinness Book of Records before he died, so there was something of a world-wide plea to send him postcards. Well, not only did he break the record, the story also caught the attention of philanthropist John Kluge, who arranged for the young man to be brought to the US where a new form of treatment was able to cure him. He's already in the record book, he's well and healthy and a young adult now, and he doesn't want any more post cards or email! A more recent variety of hoax says that Microsoft will pay you so much money for everyone you send this email message to! Yeah, right! A variation on this theme says that a large corporation will donate money to the 9-11 fund for every email you send out. Currently, false virus messages are the most common form of hoax. These messages usually say not to even look at a message with such and such a subject line as it will do horrible things to your computer - oh, and send this information to everyone you know! The more horrible ones will tell you to go looking for a certain file that they claim is a virus and tell you to delete it if you find it - the problem is, they just asked you to delete a file that your computer needs to run properly! Please, don't perpetuate these hoaxes by blindly sending them to everyone you know or posting them on newsgroups. Be skeptical when you see messages like these. Anything legitimate should tell you how you can verify the information they sent. Further, most companies that produce virus software also have web sites for providing information about viruses and virus hoaxes. If you are concerned about a warning you get, check it out at these web sites before you do anything! My personal favorite is at Symantec Corporation, makers of Norton Anti-Virus (http://securityresponse.symantec.com, with hoax information at http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html).

Chain Letters: just say no. Please, just say no!

Don't Cross-Post: cross-posting means posting the same message to several different newsgroups. In some cases, this may be appropriate. For example, because arthritis is commonly associated with IBD, you might have a question that you could post in our group and another group that deals with arthritis support. However, you should not post the same message to three groups or more. These rules are slightly different for binary groups. If you are posting a mp3 file of a Beatles song, then it is okay to cross-post that file to how-many-ever groups that would find it appropriate. If you reply to a message that is cross-posted in several groups, your software will likely tell you that it is a cross-post and ask you whether you wish to reply to the message in all the groups in which it was posted; you should choose to reply to the message ONLY in the group in which you read the post. Believe me, nothing starts a war between different newsgroups faster than replying to cross-posted messages!

Don't Feed the Trolls: as I have previously stated, some people will post wild and inflammatory messages just to get people riled up. As someone once said, "Sad, isn't it?" We call these people "trolls," and they get their kicks by getting people to argue. The best thing to do (though nobody seems to do it) is to ignore these messages. If the person doesn't get a rise, he or she will likely just go away.

This Web Page and author's comments © 2002 Another Vulgar Web Page.