97 What are the basic rules of netiquette? (alt.tv.simpsons MINI-FAQ: CBG-FAQ)
Description
This article is from the The Simpsons FAQ, by Ondre Lombard wakkojr@nospam.wcat.com and Andrew Gill superluser@mail.rit.edu with numerous contributions by others.
97 What are the basic rules of netiquette? (alt.tv.simpsons MINI-FAQ: CBG-FAQ)
A. General rule: Don't be a jerk. If you use expletives every other
word, or insult people, people are likely to ignore you (at least)
or flame you (probably). One more note: Even the intelligent
inhabitants of a.t.s can be quick to anger. If you insult anyone
intelligent, be prepared for a very humiliating public depantsing.
B. Don't post in all caps. It infers YELLING.
C. Post conservatively. Assume that the recipient of your message is
using a no-frills newsreader. Don't terminate your lines after 80
columns; When the person reads your letter, part of every line will
be on the next line. Don't use extended ASCII (e.g. the umlaut);
Not all newsreaders can handle these characters. Don't post in
HTML; Many newsreaders can't interpret this, and it's extremely
inefficient. Don't post attachments in non-binary groups; Some
newsreaders can't handle them, and see (F). Write your posts in a
fixed-width font; Some people use DOS/UNIX-based newsreaders, and
cannot see proportional fonts the same way (and proportional fonts
must be identical to be seen correctly).
D. RTFF--Read the F___ing FAQ (this is a family FAQ). This is
obviously moot for you, gentle reader, but do this in every
newsgroup that you join. The FAQ is a list of questions that are
commonly posted, and have been beaten to death. Any further
discussion would be redundant. The FAQ is intended to inform new
users of things that are taboo in a certain group, and to answer
the most common questions without pestering those who lurk in the
newsgroup.
E. Questions should be posted only when the FAQ and related
documents do not contain the information sought.
F. KISS--Keep It SHORT, Stupid! People have to download the whole dang
thing, so don't make them mad.
G. When replying, eliminate all unnecessary material from the quoted
message (e.g. if you're commenting on this section of the FAQ, you
wouldn't need to include the links section, so delete it),
especially the signatures.
H. Don't quote an entire message to make a short reply (i.e. don't
quote 75 lines to make a 2 line response).
I. Your signature should be no more than 5 lines long. It CANNOT be
significantly longer (e.g. 15 lines)
J. Reply to posts regarding etiquette (net and otherwise) in private
email.
K. Don't respond to trolls.
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