Parents As Internet Partners - Internet Netiquette

Parents As Internet Partners
Internet Netiquette

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Netiquette is the practice of using good manners on the Internet. It is important to remember that you do not always know who will see what you send on the Internet for several reasons:

Your e-mail may be more than one person if it is sent to an e-mail address that several people can access.

Your e-mail may be forwarded to many other people by the person that you sent it to without your knowledge.

Your e-mail may be sent to the wrong e-mail address in error.

Basic Netiquette Rules

Be polite and use appropriate language. Don't "flame" or be overly critical about other people's opinions on the Internet. You may not agree with someone, but you don't need to get nasty or sarcastic!

Respect whoever you communicate with on the Internet and respect their privacy.

Never assume your e-mail is private. Do not send anything you would not want to be published in a newspaper.

Use the subject line in your e-mail whenever appropriate. It will help the receiver of your e-mail know whether to respond to your message without having to open your e-mail message.

Don't use capitalization on the Internet. This is considered to be SHOUTING! and it is very annoying to other people on the Internet.

Don't spam (send unwanted, unrequested e-mails) other people on the Internet.

Don't try to break into or "hack" into someone's computer.

Don't steal copyrighted software by copying from the Internet. Don't make copies of copyrighted material without the permission of the author, publisher, or artist.

Don't copy material from the Internet and claim it as your own work.

Additional Internet Netiquette Information

Additional information about Internet netiquette is available at "The Core Rules of Netiquette" (http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html), by Virginia Shea, and at "Netiquette -- Watching Your OnLine P's & Q's" (http://www.about-the-web.com/shtml/reports/sample4.shtml) at An Internet Guide for Newcomers to the World Wide Web, by www.about-the-web.com.