PC go! 1996 January/Image.iso/pcgo/extra2/faq/netiqt.txt

Text File | 1994-07-11 | 5.5 KB | 96 lines

Mailing List Etiquette

Different mailing lists will take on different characters due to the nature
of the discussion and the contributing membership.  It's a good idea to get
a feel for the way a mailing list works before posting to it.  The best way
is to read any new forum for at least 3 weeks before posting.  Think of it
as walking up to a group of people who are engaged in conversation.  It
wouldn't be polite to interrupt -- a mailing list is much the same way.

A lot of topics of discussion have the same subjects come up over and over
again,  These are called Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQs.  Quite often,
a file is written to address these questions, called a FAQ file.  It's a
good idea to read the FAQ (if available) before posting.  It may be archived
and available via anonymous ftp (ftp stands for File Transfer Protocol and
is an easy way to transfer files over the Internet).  Compuserve doesn't
have ftp access, but you can get around that by using an ftpmail server.
Use one of these ftpmail servers:

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Send a message saying "help" to the server and it will respond with
instructions.  If the file you request is too large to go through the
Compuserve gateway, you should be able to ask the server to break it up
into smaller pieces.


Okay, say you've lurked for a while, read the FAQ and understood it and
now you're ready to post.  So what should you post about?  Sometimes it's
easier to talk about what not to post about.  One important thing to remember
is to stay on topic.  A mailing list is a very focused forum, created for
discussion on a specific topic.  Some subjects that may seem relevant, might
be inappropriate.  For example, a list devoted to talking about sexuality
might not appreciate a thread on abortion.  These sort of issues always end
up breaking into heated debates called flamewars.

Flaming is an unique net phenomenon.  A flame, if you don't already know,
is when someone sends a nasty message to you -- cutting in front of you
on the Information Superhighway, so to speak.  As much as it may irriate
you (which it often does), you should resist the temptation to flame back.
Address your response to /dev/null, or get up and get a drink of water
before sending.  You may find it easier to dismiss the matter by waiting
a while before sending a reply.

Besides flames, there are a few other things that are frowned upon.  Don't
send commercial notices.  Don't send test messages -- these annoy a lot
of people.  Don't send messages saying merely, "Me too."   If you don't
have anything constructive to add to a discussion, then it's best not to
send anything at all.  Any messages you send will increase the work load
on the mailing list's host computer.

Keep in mind that your messages reflect on you.  Try to use proper grammar,
punctuation, and spelling.  One long block of text is hard to read, so break
your messages up into paragraphs.  Use both uppercase and lowercase as ALL
UPPERCASE IS QUITE OFTEN PERCEIVED TO BE SHOUTING!  On the same vein, it's
considered bad form to flame someone for poor spelling or grammar.  Use
clear wording as it is difficult to project emotion through the written
media.  Don't read thoughts into messages that aren't there.  For example, I
tend to write formally and people sometimes misinterpret this as being stuffy
or preachy when it was never my intention to project this.  Sarcasm doesn't
come across well either, and many people use a "smiley" to indicate they're
joking.  This is a smiley: :-)  (tilt your head to the left if you can't see
it).

Back on the subject of subjects -- don't flame someone for posting an
off-topic message or violating netiquette on the list.  This might lead into
an endless discussion on what is an appropriate topic, which isn't much fun
either.  Very important:  Be sure of your sources!  Don't post something that
sounds like an amusing story as it may be a well-known Urban Legend that the
users have seen countless times, and you may just end up getting flamed for
it.  Urban Legends are commonly passed around by well-meaning people, and can
be checked out with something as simple as a phone call!   Different lists
have different policies on posting copyrighted items, so you should find out
what the consensus is before posting a newspaper article, song lyrics or a
gif or your favourite tv personality.  As a rule though, you probably shouldn't
post copyrighted articles.  It's also not recommended to post email received
from a mailing list in other places, such as a Compuserve forum.  Get
permission from the author and the mailing list owner before reposting.


Now that you have some tips on mailing lists, where do you find out about
them?  One source is the Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists, a compilation
of Usenet mailing lists.  There are over 850 lists covering a wide assortment
of topics.  Please note that this is a compilation only.  The maintainer can't
subscribe you to any of the lists -- you must do that by contacting the list
owners of the lists you want to join.  She also can't track down any lists not
already included in the document.  If you have any questions about anything,
please direct them to the Inetforum Sysops.


This file was written by Stephanie da Silva ([e-mail],
[e-mail]).  Free distribution of the text in unaltered form
is heartily encouraged.