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UseNetiQuette:

Newsgroups, Bulletin Boards and Discussion

• What is Usenet?

• How Do I Learn the Rules?

• How Do I get started?

• Why does most mail have ">>" ?

• What should I capitalize?

• What is "Flaming"?

• What is cross posting

• Can a polite reply hurt anyone?

• Why are people so easily upset?

• Why do some groups put up with trolls?

• Language
  

What is Usenet?

Usenet is the network of discussion boards, often called 'NewsGroups', and usually accessible through an email browser, or on the web via Google Groups. Once the only online communication system, UseNet now competes with mailing lists, web-based bulletin boards, chatrooms and a myriad other systems.

How Do I learn The Rules?

As Internet usage has grown, and options too, the original tight rules of usenet have been diluted to the point of invisibility. However, many newsgroups have a charter or FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), and many other discussion sites have a charter, FAQ or 'about' page.

How Do I get started?

Read the FAQ. If there's something that keeps coming up, it saves everyone a lot of discussion, reinventing the wheel, flaming, and going over the same old ground. Think of it as basic research.

Lurk before you post. That simply means read before you write. Many groups have hundreds of readers, but just a handful regularly write. It is worth a little investment of time to see how your chosen group works - every group has 'unwritten rules' that have developed, and new members can suffer badly by not being up to speed.

In any group, before asking a question, seemingly stupid or otherwise, do read through at least a week's, or even a month's, posts of that group to see if the subject has been covered before - maybe yesterday or last week.

It is also worth searching at Google Groups to see
if the question has already been answered, perhaps on another newsgroup.

There are approaching 100,000 newsgoups, with mnore asppearing all the time, and many with over 1000 messages per day; others with zero

What is ">>" down the left margin?

Many browsers automatically add the 'greater than' symbol to the left of each line of quoted text. It distinguishes quotations from different senders, helping respondents to avoid errors in attribution.

So an email in reply to a question might include the original question, with '>' indicating the quoted text. It is rarely necessary to quote a message in its entirety - just enough so that the recipient knows what you are referring to. A four part "conversation" might appear as:

> > > Do I have to include all these ">>"
> > No, but it does show what you are
> > quoting and what is your reply.
> But I do have to?
No - you can change the settings on your browser

What are the rules about capitalization?

WRITING IN BLOCK CAPITALS IS UNNNECESSARY AND IS INTERPRETED BY MANY AS SHOUTING. Expect a rude reply!

using all lower case is odd, especially if i do it all the time. it might look quaint but some read it as laziness. Expect no reply!

Using the usual case is recommended; The use of lower case and upper case evolved over many years; it is legible and requires little effort of reader or writer.

What is "Flaming"?

Flaming ('insulting criticism or remark meant to incite anger') has come to refer to almost any mail insult. Originating in usenet, flames were carefully honed responses to real or perceived insults; sarcastic, artistic, often literary in allusion. The art has long since disappeared, and flame wars can be abusive, aggressive and unpleasant exchanges in newsgroups, mailing lists and email. They are a serious reminder that it is vital to think before mailing; an insult cannot be withdrawn. Find out more.

What is cross posting?

Crossposting refers to the sending of a note to more than one news group - generally considered bad manners. Even if your comment has some relevance to more than one group, it is not considered polite to assume that the 'other group' wish to hear it. When replying to a cross post, it is usual to delete the other groups before posting - only send to people that you know are interested.

There are exceptions, but it is usually better to go to each group in turn, and aslk your self 'should I post this here'. Once you've scanned the current discussions, you'll usually find that it is neither helpful, not likely to be appreciated.

How can a polite reply hurt anyone?

Very easily. Pressing the reply button can vary in its effect, depending on the software you use and how it is set up. Your reply may be automatically copied to all who received the first post, not just the sender. The contents may include all of the original post; if you choose to "quote original" but have been reading another post since you read the one you are replying to, it is possible to quote from the wrong mail.

And your reply, however polite, may be taken out of context and might cause inadvertent pain - easily done when responding around the world, with such variation among cultures (Never forget that England and America are "divided by a common language").

Why are people easily upset on the internet?

The internet combines features of both the written and the spoken word, but lacks what we all take for granted in speech; visible and audible cues. Thus a 'smart' comment can become biting sarcasm, a verbal tease can become a mortal insult.

Two solutions have evolved:
The vile and ubiquitous emoticon ;-)
The cumbersome but <witty> emotag </witty>

Emoticons are the work of seconds from any keyboard, and are widely understood. On the other hand, some people find them trite, facile and irredeemably stupid :- (

Emotags mimic the text tags used in HTML coding. They take a little thought and might not be worth that effort - but, arguably, they could not be worse than <DIRE> emoticons </DIRE>

Why do some groups put up with trolls?

Each group or forum will have their own tolerance level. With forums, it is the owner (or their chosen managers) who set the tone, and decide how much trollism they will accept. For newsgroups, it's a question of what the current membership will put up with.

If you leave such a place, tell them them why you've left - but never look back, as 95% will not change. Their site, their choice.

YOUR choice is to look around the web until you find a site that shares your tolerance level - the web is so huge, there HAS to be one!

The range of tolerance is huge; On one site, they may have ZERO tolerance of spammers and trolls; the moderators simply delete any suspicious posts, and if the member objects, they are deleted. End of story.

At the other extreme, quite the oppposite. The owner tells them straight, and gives them the option to clean up their act. If they don't, it's open season and members are encouraged give them a really hard time until they get bored. trolls are allowed to stay ONLY as long as they provide entertainment for the members.

My advice is "shop around"; if you are not comforatble, move on. It's a big web, and it caters for all tastes. There really is little point in staying where you do not like the atmosphere - and it only encourages them.

Language

There's nothing wrong with reading a forum in another language; pick up what you can, and maybe learn a little of the language too. But few groups will tolerate someone who joins, and then asks badly translated questions - especially if the questions have been answered 674 times before. Let's face it, if you can't even ask the question ... what are you going to do with the answer?

How this page works ...

This page is to help anyone with an interest in Netiquette - or simply in the use of the internet. If you want to ask a supplementary question, write to me - I do not promise an answer - but I'll help if I can, and may add it to this page.

I welcome your views on the whole idea - did you find it useful?

Thanks to Edward Rogers for suggesting the items on reponding to email, and for useful thoughts on forum trolls.