Using E-Mail

When you are corresponding on the Internet, put your best foot forward. As in everyday life, use common courtesy when sending and receiving e-mail. These guidelines are considered "Netiquette" or the etiquette of the Internet.

1. Don't respond hastily or in anger to an e-mail message. The medium of the Internet makes this all too easy to do. Stop and think before "flaming" a message. Flaming is the process of sending a response in anger or by putting down the sender in your reply. Be rational and courteous in any e-mail you send.
2. DON'T USE ALL CAPS IN YOUR MESSAGE. This is perceived as shouting to the reader and makes the message difficult to read.
3. Delete any unneeded messages from the server to free up disk space.
4. Be concise in your messages. The fewer words used, the better.
5. When replying to a message, delete any unnecessary words and headers. This not only saves on bandwidth and message storage space, it makes it easier for your recipient to read your message.
6. Since it is often difficult to express emotion with e-mail, use emoticons when a specific inflection is desired. But, like anything else, don't overdo!
7. Keep attached files to a minimum size. Check them for viruses BEFORE you send them.
8. Be sensitive to the type of e-mail program your recipient uses. Can they accept attachments? Can they display hypertext? When in doubt, use only text format for sending messages. If you subscribe to mailing lists, use only text format.
9. Consider any e-mail message you send public. NEVER send personal information (i.e., Social Security Number, credit card numbers) or any other information that you would not want to become public knowledge through e-mail.

Emoticons

Emoticons are the computer's way of expressing emotion in the cold medium of electronic mail. They are also referred to as "smileys." If you have problems understanding these symbols, tilt your head to the left and look at them again. Here are some you may encounter.

Abbreviations

In addition to emoticons, you may encounter some abbreviations in e-mail messages. These are reminders of the early Internet days when messages needed to be kept to a minimum and the users of e-mail were few.