Thursday, April 5, 2007
Business Netiquette
Originating e-mail.
When originating e-mail, say where you obtained the e-mail address of the person to whom you are writing. Or mention the web page name or URL, if you e-mailed off a web page. Many business people have more than one page on the Internet and knowing from where or why you are contacting them is helpful. It might even get you a more meaningful reply.
In addition, always put something in the Subject box.
Messages that arrive with no indication of source and no Subject are very likely to be treated as “junk mail.”
Do not send ‘attachments’ (files attached to an e-mail message) with your e-mail unless and until your correspondent has indicated that they will accept it. Ask first!
e-Mailheads and Signatures.
Create an e-mail letterhead for formal proposals, contracts, offers, and the like. But, use it sparingly, and only when appropriate. Recipients may balk at the wasted linage, unless there is a clear purpose. Keep it short - 3 lines are enough.
Proper use would be whenever it is necessary to make it clear that the message is from your company, rather than from yourself, such as an offer to purchase.
Create a signature for consistency. Keep it short and concise. Include your e-mail address in case the signature gets separated from the header. Don't duplicate in your signature any material you have in your e-mailhead.
Capitalizing, and other odd things.
Business communication requires proper use of written language. It requires proper use of capital letters. Some offices permit - even encourage - all lower-case for internal memos. But, this is rude and slovenly when used for inter-company communications. Would you write a business letter on company letterhead using all lower-case? Hope not!
Specifics
internet - is a generic term, not a proper noun. Use lower case and capitalize only at the beginning of a sentence. (However, many journalists are capitalizing Internet. By today's rules, this is not correct, but English is a living language with custom a major factor. In time, it may be correct to capitalize Internet.)
intranet - is a common noun. Capitalize at the beginning of a sentence and when the word has been particularized - as in the IBM Intranet (like the Ohio River), but: IBM's intranet.
World Wide Web - should be capitalized, according to Webster's - see below. (However, by the same rule, other things of the same class like gopher and archie should be capitalized, too. As these are rarely capitalized, you may decide not to capitalize “world wide web.” Whatever you choose, be consistent.)
The initials, WWW, which stand for “World Wide Web,” should be in capitals. (But Webster's does not always capitalize abbreviations. If you capitalize the whole phrase, capitalize the abbreviation, and vice versa.)
e-mail - the “e” is always lower case. At the beginning of a sentence, the “M” is capitalized – as in e-Mail. And the word should be hyphenated. (“email” - no hyphen - means “enamel” in German and French.)
on-line - should be hyphenated, not written solid (online). However, “Online” is commonly used in trade names (eg.America Online), in which case it should be written as the trade name dictates, usually solid and capitalized.
http://www.bspage.com/1netiq/Netiq.html
When you send a message to a customer or employee, assume that others will see it. You won't be notified if the receiver forwards your message to others. And if you forward a message to others, be sure to give credit to the original author.
Use a "signature file" so that those who receive your message can quickly and easily determine where it came from. You can create and save the information you want to include-- usually your company's name, address and telephone number. Then use a menu in your e-mail program to select the file you've just created. Then, every time you send an e-mail message, your signature file information will automatically appear at the end of each message you send. This way, too, customers who wish to be removed from your mailing list can contact you easily.
Make your messages as concise as possible and stick to a single subject. Long messages take time to transfer to your recipients' computers.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/businessstartupsmagazine/1997/november/14740-2.html
Flaming
Flaming 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.
The word flaming is also sometimes used for long, intensive and heated discussions, even though insults do not occur. (Wikipedia)
flame ~ n. insulting criticism or remark meant to incite anger
Flaming is one of the curses of the internet - and yet how many people who have ever joined in a discussion can say they have never flamed - or at least been tempted? First, you read something really stupid, then you think of a neat response ... before you can say "What have I done?" the message has been posted; you are in a Flame War.
Flame War: a barrage of postings in response to one poor sap who spoke out of turn. Traditionally, this takes place in a News Group - someone phrases something rather tactlessly, and instead of emailing the poor sap with a hint that the mistake should be acknowledged, everyone mails the whole group. Pretty stupid, really, as half the flames are simple insults, with no reference to the reason for it. Flame wars start because people press the reply button, instead of writing direct. Once started, the cause is often lost in the midst of insults, and loyalties change as insults get stronger and all inclusive.
Flame wars can take place in any news group, and even on mailing lists. Anywhere with an audience, really. The serious forms of flaming occur in alt.flame and other reserved sites; if the war hots up in your group, you can always cross roast to them. But that is for the experts: either lurk in the background for a while or prepare to be bruised.
http://www.flayme.com/flame/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_war
The word flaming is also sometimes used for long, intensive and heated discussions, even though insults do not occur. (Wikipedia)
flame ~ n. insulting criticism or remark meant to incite anger
Flaming is one of the curses of the internet - and yet how many people who have ever joined in a discussion can say they have never flamed - or at least been tempted? First, you read something really stupid, then you think of a neat response ... before you can say "What have I done?" the message has been posted; you are in a Flame War.
Flame War: a barrage of postings in response to one poor sap who spoke out of turn. Traditionally, this takes place in a News Group - someone phrases something rather tactlessly, and instead of emailing the poor sap with a hint that the mistake should be acknowledged, everyone mails the whole group. Pretty stupid, really, as half the flames are simple insults, with no reference to the reason for it. Flame wars start because people press the reply button, instead of writing direct. Once started, the cause is often lost in the midst of insults, and loyalties change as insults get stronger and all inclusive.
Flame wars can take place in any news group, and even on mailing lists. Anywhere with an audience, really. The serious forms of flaming occur in alt.flame and other reserved sites; if the war hots up in your group, you can always cross roast to them. But that is for the experts: either lurk in the background for a while or prepare to be bruised.
http://www.flayme.com/flame/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_war
What is Netiquette?
What is Netiquette?:
Simply stated, it's internet etiquette -- that is, the etiquette of cyberspace. And "etiquette" means "the forms required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be required in social or official life." In other words, Netiquette is a set of rules for behaving properly online.
When you enter any new culture -- and cyberspace has its own culture -- you're liable to commit a few social blunders. You might offend people without meaning to. Or you might misunderstand what others say and take offense when it's not intended. To make matters worse, something about cyberspace makes it easy to forget that you're interacting with other real people -- not just ASCII characters on a screen, but live human characters.
So, partly as a result of forgetting that people online are still real, and partly because they don't know the conventions, well-meaning cybernauts, especially new ones, make all kinds of mistakes.
Here are some general Netiquette rules:
·Rule: Remember the Human
Through electronic communication, the only visual you have is the computer screen. Face-to-face communication is rendered absent. You don't have the opportunity to use facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice to communicate your meaning; words, letters, and symbols are all that you have to work with. You must remember, that the receiver only has these simple forms of communication as well.
While communicating online -- whether it's to exchange en e-mail or respond to a discussion group posting -- it's easy to misinterpret your correspondent's meaning. And it's frighteningly easy to forget that your correspondent is a person with feelings more or less like your own.
When communicating electronically with other people, remember that the person you are talking to is a real human being.
·
Rule: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life
Just because you believe no one can see you doesn't mean that your actions go unnoticed. Standards of behavior may be different in some areas of cyberspace, but they are not lower than in real life.
Breaking the law is bad Netiquette
If you're tempted to do something that's illegal in cyberspace, chances are it's also bad Netiquette.
·
Rule: Know where you are in cyberspace
Netiquette varies from domain to domain
What's perfectly acceptable in one area may be dreadfully rude in another. For example, in most TV discussion groups, passing on idle gossip is perfectly permissible. But throwing around unsubstantiated rumors in a journalists' mailing list will make you very unpopular there.
And because Netiquette is different in different places, it's important to know where you are.
Thus the next corollary: Lurk before you leap
When you enter a domain of cyberspace that's new to you, take a look around. Spend a while listening to the chat or reading the archives. Get a sense of how the people who are already there act. Then go ahead and participate.
·
Rule: Respect other people's time and bandwidth
You are not the center of cyberspace
No one is pleased when it turns out not to be worth the trouble.
Before you copy people on your messages, ask yourself whether they really need to know
·
Rule: Make yourself look good online
Take advantage of your anonymity. You won't be judged by the color of your skin, eyes, or hair, your weight, your age, or your clothing.
Know what you're talking about and make sense
Make sure your notes are clear and logical. It's perfectly possible to write a paragraph that contains no errors in grammar or spelling, but still makes no sense whatsoever.
·
Rule: Respect other people's privacy
Failing to respect other people's privacy is not just bad Netiquette. It could also cost you your job.
·
Rule: Don't abuse your power
Some people in cyberspace have more power than others. There are wizards in MUDs (multi-user dungeons), experts in every office, and system administrators in every system.
Knowing more than others, or having more power than they do, does not give you the right to take advantage of them. For example, sysadmins should never read private email.
·
Rule: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes
When someone makes a mistake -- whether it's a spelling error or a spelling flame, a stupid question or an unnecessarily long answer -- be kind about it. If it's a minor error, you may just choose to say nothing.
If you do decide to inform someone of a mistake, point it out politely, and preferably by private email rather than in public. Give people the benefit of the doubt; assume they just don't know any better.
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/introduction.html By Virginia Shea
Simply stated, it's internet etiquette -- that is, the etiquette of cyberspace. And "etiquette" means "the forms required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be required in social or official life." In other words, Netiquette is a set of rules for behaving properly online.
When you enter any new culture -- and cyberspace has its own culture -- you're liable to commit a few social blunders. You might offend people without meaning to. Or you might misunderstand what others say and take offense when it's not intended. To make matters worse, something about cyberspace makes it easy to forget that you're interacting with other real people -- not just ASCII characters on a screen, but live human characters.
So, partly as a result of forgetting that people online are still real, and partly because they don't know the conventions, well-meaning cybernauts, especially new ones, make all kinds of mistakes.
Here are some general Netiquette rules:
·Rule: Remember the Human
Through electronic communication, the only visual you have is the computer screen. Face-to-face communication is rendered absent. You don't have the opportunity to use facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice to communicate your meaning; words, letters, and symbols are all that you have to work with. You must remember, that the receiver only has these simple forms of communication as well.
While communicating online -- whether it's to exchange en e-mail or respond to a discussion group posting -- it's easy to misinterpret your correspondent's meaning. And it's frighteningly easy to forget that your correspondent is a person with feelings more or less like your own.
When communicating electronically with other people, remember that the person you are talking to is a real human being.
·
Rule: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life
Just because you believe no one can see you doesn't mean that your actions go unnoticed. Standards of behavior may be different in some areas of cyberspace, but they are not lower than in real life.
Breaking the law is bad Netiquette
If you're tempted to do something that's illegal in cyberspace, chances are it's also bad Netiquette.
·
Rule: Know where you are in cyberspace
Netiquette varies from domain to domain
What's perfectly acceptable in one area may be dreadfully rude in another. For example, in most TV discussion groups, passing on idle gossip is perfectly permissible. But throwing around unsubstantiated rumors in a journalists' mailing list will make you very unpopular there.
And because Netiquette is different in different places, it's important to know where you are.
Thus the next corollary: Lurk before you leap
When you enter a domain of cyberspace that's new to you, take a look around. Spend a while listening to the chat or reading the archives. Get a sense of how the people who are already there act. Then go ahead and participate.
·
Rule: Respect other people's time and bandwidth
You are not the center of cyberspace
No one is pleased when it turns out not to be worth the trouble.
Before you copy people on your messages, ask yourself whether they really need to know
·
Rule: Make yourself look good online
Take advantage of your anonymity. You won't be judged by the color of your skin, eyes, or hair, your weight, your age, or your clothing.
Know what you're talking about and make sense
Make sure your notes are clear and logical. It's perfectly possible to write a paragraph that contains no errors in grammar or spelling, but still makes no sense whatsoever.
·
Rule: Respect other people's privacy
Failing to respect other people's privacy is not just bad Netiquette. It could also cost you your job.
·
Rule: Don't abuse your power
Some people in cyberspace have more power than others. There are wizards in MUDs (multi-user dungeons), experts in every office, and system administrators in every system.
Knowing more than others, or having more power than they do, does not give you the right to take advantage of them. For example, sysadmins should never read private email.
·
Rule: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes
When someone makes a mistake -- whether it's a spelling error or a spelling flame, a stupid question or an unnecessarily long answer -- be kind about it. If it's a minor error, you may just choose to say nothing.
If you do decide to inform someone of a mistake, point it out politely, and preferably by private email rather than in public. Give people the benefit of the doubt; assume they just don't know any better.
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/introduction.html By Virginia Shea
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