The internet is not ruled or controlled by any single person, company or entity - in turn the internet as a whole does not have any set in stone rules or regulations. People are expected to have good manners, so that everybody can use it with no problems.

    There are however exceptions to the "no laws" internet. Many institutions, mailing lists, countries and internet service providers (ISPs) do have their own set of written rules to follow. If you are caught you will probably be warned, denied service, or even punished as per their TOS (Terms Of Service). Some mailing lists have rules, and if you do not follow them, you can be unsubscribed from the list. Some countries have laws related to the use of the Internet, and if you violate them, you will be punished. If you use the Internet with common sense, you will probably not be in serious trouble.

    In order to avoid inconveniencing other people, there are some generally accepted standards of behavior. These standards are referred to as "netiquette." Thus, they are not really "rules" per se, and even if you do not follow them, you will not be punished. However, if you do not follow the standards of netiquette, other users may criticize you for violating them just as if you were to walk into someone's house and chop all their candles in half.

     The most important guideline for netiquette is to be polite and respectful to other people. Another guideline is not to reveal any information about other people which they may not want known, for example, phone and fax numbers, addresses, or any information related to the privacy of other people.

    I have broken down general rules into 3 categories. These categories talk about the area where netiquette is most widely needed and coincidentaly where you will meet the most people. Some are obvious, some aren't as such. Please be courteous to others and keep them in mind during your internet use.

E-mail

• Make sure the e-mail address you are sending is to the correct person. E-mail is not like regular post - it can and WILL be read by the wrong person if you are not careful.
• Make proper use of the subject. Don't use very broad things like "hey" or "hi".
• Don't forward mails unless you REALLY need to. You wouldn't forward every other piece of postal mail you get. E-mail is no different.
• Please, PLEASE don't foward any jokes or other "useless" mail. You won't be paid $1 per mail you send out and you won't be saving a kid's life either. Don't waste yours or anybody elses time - delete them.
• Should you decide something you received is so priceless that you must forward it, DON'T include your entire address list in the TO: field. Learn To Use Distribution Lists or send Blind Carbon Copies.
• Absolutely NO unsolicited e-mail advertising. This is a very touchy subject and can get you in trouble with your ISP.
• When attaching files, please put a limit to the size of it(under 50k or so) unless the recipient knows it's coming.
• No chain letters
• Address the person by their name at the beginning of the message. You can write Dear ______ or Hi, _______ to make it sound more friendly.
• E-mail is NOT secure. It is by far the easiest thing to snoop on. Don't put things inside mail you wouldn't want anybody to know about without proper encryption.
• Allow time for an e-mail to arrive. Some people don't check their mail everyday, and receiving 10 messages from you asking if you got the first one is annoying.
• Make questions easy to answer. Some may take a lot of explaining, so if you ask a lot of questions, make a list for the recipient.
• If you are forwarding a message, don't change the original message around.
• In a business-related e-mail, put the main idea at the beginning of the message. If you're asking for something, ask in the first or second sentence.
• Don't make your mail long. Nobody wants to sit there reading a novel. Get to the point.
• If the message is long, include a summary at the beginning.
• When replying, quote the relevant parts only.
• Don't use all CAPS.
• At the end of the message, at the minimum leave your first name and e-mail address. If you plan on using signature files, keep it under 5 lines.
• If your ISP or workplace supplies your e-mail service, check with their Terms Of Service.

Newsgroups and Bulletin Boards

• PLEASE, get a feel for the type of board and the people that post on it before you start posting.
• Be aware boards and newsgroups are archived, don't post anything you wouldn't want looked up later to haunt you.
• Do not advertise without previous permission. People take serious offence to this and will ban you.
• Don't get into a flame war. After all, you'd be the fool just be typing profanities randomly into the 'net;-)
• Any private message you receive, keep that way. There was a reason the person contacted you in private and did not address the entire board.
• Ignore spelling mistakes. People don't really care, and correcting them is not proper netiquette.
• Many boards have the ability to attach a picture to a post. Keep it in moderation as not to offend anyone.
• Don't post the same message to more than 5 different newsgroups at one time. It's highly unlikely it will be on-topic in every singel one.
• Many boards keep a FAQ (frequently asked questions) READ IT! It usually outlines the owners expected behavior.
• Stay on topic. If you have something off topic to add to the community, make a new thread.
• Don't post anybodys private information they may not want made public. Just ask yourself if you'd like that same info of you posted.
• There are usually arguements on the boards, debate them. But stay clear of anything turning ugly.
• Don't register multiple "user names". Pick one you like and post under it. It will let people know whos who when posting.
• A lot of boards lately are allowing signatures that follow every one of your posts. (They don't hold candles to the old style bbs's;-0) This isn't an excuse to advertise your site UNLESS it is related to the board.
• The newer boards allow for direct html editting in your post. Please make sure you know what you're doing. There's nothing worse that coming into an unreadable thread because somebody misused html tags.
• Just be all around courteous;-)

Chat services like ICQ, IRC and AOL/AIM

• When first entering a chat room, observe what is being discussed. Then when you feel comfortable you can add something to the conversation, chat away!
• If you find a topic that offends you, leave the chat. Don't try to be the moral police and start a flame war.
• If the chat is polite and courteous, do the same. If it's full of cursing and foul language, then by all means curse. lol.
• Don't be TOO polite. When somebody says "thank you" - it's not really necessary to say "you're welcome". It seems the net has become a competition as to who can be the most polite.
• Know when to end a conversation. It's harder to know what a coversation is over. Usually after the "bye bye". Don't try to get the last say. The convo will never end.
• Try not to talk about other users "behind their backs" in private. It's a rude thing to do in real life. Same applies to the internet.
• Remember the world is a big place full of very different people. They may have different views and opinions. Respect them!
• Don't trust who people say they are. I can easily say I'm a 12 year old teen, when in fact I can be a 40 year old balding loser.
• Don't trust ANYBODY enough to give them any personal information over chat. Be it last names or Social Security #'s.
• Don't get aggravated when somebody doesn't reply to you right away. They may be busy, or their software may not be functioning properly.
• Be careful if you have more than one talk session going! You may not want somebody to receive a message meant for someone else and typed it into the wrong screen.
• Many chat softwares have built in ignore features. Use them when appropriate. Don't go flaming away - it won't solve anything.

    The Internet is very useful for many people, and more and more people are using it. It is therefore important that everyone follows netiquette, which allows everyone to use the Internet effectively and comfortably. I hope that you will follow netiquette and use the Internet effectively and let other people do the same

Other Useful Articles and Links

This was in part inspired by the RFC on netiquette which can be found here.
Also, another article that I find useful if you conduct business on the internet is Business Netiquette International.
Sooner or later, you're bound to come across a troll. Learn How to Handle a Troll.
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