Information

Netiquette

FirstClass is a great place to discuss elements of your course, chat about general items of interest and make new friends. However when you are interacting with other people online you don't have the extra benefits of body language or voice intonations to help you get your point across - most people will only know you by what you write and how well you write it.

To help you get to grips with the subtleties of communicating online we've assembled some basic tips that will allow you to enjoy the OU's electronic community to its fullest.

• Remember that you are talking to real people
• Try to keep your messages short
• Give your messages a descriptive Subject
• Summarise messages when replying to them
• Check with the sender before quoting from private e-mail
• Credit other people's work
• Signal your emotions in messages
• Avoid writing in ALL CAPITALS
• Send your messages to the right place

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