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BOOT CAMP 071
NEWSGROUPS PART 2, NETIQUETTE
Last week we described how to set up your PC to access and
subscribe to Newsgroups on the Internet. Having done so most newcomers feel an
irresistible urge to join in. Don't, at least, not straight away. You will
almost certainly commit some terrible faux
pas and irritate or enrage other members of the group who will respond with
'flames' or 'mail bombs', by sending you abusive and offensive E-mails. If you
want to get the most out of this amazing resource you must learn a few simple
rules, it is called 'Netiquette' and
you ignore it at your peril…
It might sound a bit precious but remember there are people
on the other side of your computer screen, thousands, possibly millions of
them! It is very easy to offend when your only means of communication is a
keyboard. Those reading your words may well come from very different cultural
and ethnic backgrounds and English might not be their first language. Without
voice inflections facial expressions and the body language of face to face
conversation a seemingly innocent remark or gentle British irony can turn into
a major insult, which in other circumstance might result in a punch on the
nose!
Good netiquette isn't meant to be stuffy, your messages
should be informal but be polite and above all succinct and to the point; long
and wordy postings will simply be ignored. Sarcasm and humour should be used
with caution, if you must try to be funny then make sure your wit is well
signposted, we'll show you how to do that in a moment.
There are a few other points to bear in mind. DON'T SHOUT
unless you really mean it, writing in uppercase is considered bad from. If you
want to respond to a specific point or communicate directly with a member of
the group on a topic outside the newsgroups subject area, send an E-mail to the
member concerned otherwise a newsgroup can quickly become cluttered with
irrelevant messages or 'follow-ups'. If you have a point to make it is helpful
to others if you summarise what has been said before but avoid needless
repetition. If you cite references or quotes make sure you mention the source,
do not infringe commercial copyright and be very careful about what you say
about others. Don't forget newsgroups are in the public domain and your
comments can be easily read or forwarded by E-mail to those you've maligned.
Always, always check spelling and grammar but avoid criticising others use of
English, for all you know they might suffer from dyslexia or are learning the
language.
It sounds like there's a lot to learn but it is mostly
common sense and it is surprising how quickly you can pick it up by sitting on
the sidelines for a couple of weeks and just reading the postings. You can get
a crash course in netiquette by looking at the guidelines and FAQs in your own
newsgroup and there's some useful hints and tips on the web at: http://www.fau.edu/netiquette/net/elec.html
or try the newsgroup 'news.announce.newusers', which is aimed at newcomers.
Newsgroup postings are often littered with acronyms, used
wisely they are a useful form of shorthand but too many will make your messages
unreadable or difficult to follow. It's worth committing half a dozens or so of
the most commonly used ones to memory. They include FYI, which means 'for your
information', BTW is 'by the way', IMHO stands for 'in my humble/honest
opinion', ROTFL, 'rolling on the floor laughing', RTFM means 'read the flipping
manual' (or words to that effect…), TIA is 'thanks in advance' and TTFN, 'ta-ta
for now'; a more complete list can be found at: http://www.fau.edu/netiquette/net/acroynms.txt
Since you will be using plain text to compose your messages
it is useful to know how to emphasise words or phrases. Surrounding words with
*asterisks* draws attention to it, rather like an underline or a bold typeface.
Names and titles, like _Boot Camp_ can be signified with a single underscore
before and after and it is a good idea to limit line length to no more than 60
or 70 characters as this could make your messages difficult to read on some
newsreaders.
A good way of writing between the lines, to let those
reading your postings know you are making a joke or what you are thinking, is
to use simple graphics made up of text characters. They're called 'Emoticons'
and there are dozens of them so for a complete listing look at: http://www.eff.org/papers/eeftti/eeg_287.html
The most basic emoticon is the 'smiley' made up of a colon,
dash and close bracket symbol thus :- ) if you don't get it, turn the page on
its side. There are some really ingenious ones, like ; - ) which suggests the
user has just made a sarcastic remark and is winking or }:-(
the user is wearing a toupee on a windy day…
Finally a few more simple and mostly obvious 'don’ts'. Do
not use newsgroups to advertise. There's no harm in mentioning useful or
apposite products and services in response to a newsgroup posting, even if they
are your own, but blatent advertising is frowned upon. It is counter productive
you will be flamed, excluded from the group and you could end up with some very
harmful things being written about you and your business. From time to time you
may see or be sent chain letters promising all kinds of things or making
worthy-sounding appeals. Bin them all. They are invariably scams or
mathematically impossible moreover they waste valuable (and limited) network
resources. If they are traced back to you your Internet account will almost
certainly be closed. Once you've served your apprentiship you will want to post
your first message, do not send a 'This is a test' message to your group,
unless you want your E-mail box filled with flames. There are newsgroups
like alt.just.testing where you can
check to make sure everything is working properly.
Next week, using your PC for research
JARGON FILTER
FAQ
Frequently asked questions, a simple guide to a particular
topic or subject area
FLAME
Offensive or abusive E-mails, usually sent in response to
someone infringing basic newsgroup netiquette
FOLLOW-UPS
A response to a newsgroup message or posting which will from
part of a 'thread' for others to read and reply to
TOP TIP
Web pages can often be difficult to read especially if text
colours clash with fancy backgrounds and patterns. On Microsoft Internet
Explorer there's a very handy feature that will allow you to make quite
significant changes to the way web pages are displayed, and in particular the
colours used for web site addresses that you have and haven't visited and the
so-called 'hover' colour. The latter is the colour change that occurs when your
mouse pointer passes over and highlights a web address. Open Explorer and on
the View menu choose Internet Options, select the General tab and click the
Colours button at the bottom of the window. To change a default click on the
appropriate colour block and choose a new one from the palette which appears,
or create your own custom colour. A similar feature is available on Netscape
Navigator on the Options menu under General Preferences.
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