Netiquette rules, OK! - OPAR L'Orientale Open Archive

Threads in the Complex Fabric of Languagethe Gricean maxims, as well as the UDS. So I shall simply report briefly here from twoonline guides (Shea 1994, Campbell) for people new to the net (which complementeach other to some degree) with some brief tabulated comments, and from an EFLtextbook specifically dedicated to email English (Emmerson 2004).Virginia Shea’s (1994) well-known netiquette guide (in the abridged Core Rulesof Netiquette version available online), lists the following decalogue of rules (in thisorder):Shea’s Core Rules of NetiquetteRule 1: Remember the HumanRule 2: Adhere to the same standardsof behavior online that you follow inreal lifeRule 3: Know where you are incyberspaceRule 4: Respect other people’s timeand bandwidthRule 5: Make yourself look goodonlineRule 6: Share expert knowledgeRule 7: Help keep flame wars undercontrolRule 8: Respect other people’sprivacyRule 9: Don’t abuse your powerRule 10: Be forgiving of otherpeople’s mistakesBrief commentsas she comments, it’s the «golden rule»: «Do unto others asyou’d have others do unto you».seems flexible/relative/adaptable to culture and contextRefers to different community and contextual appropriateness,of topics, and languageby not wasting people’s time e.g. by ‘copying’ themunnecessarily in to messages; also refers to length and ‘weight’of messages and attachments. «you are not the center ofcyberspace». Don’t expect instant responses.through correctness and care with both your language form(«spelling and grammar do count») and content («:makesure you make sense»). Because «You will be judged by thequality of your writing».Rule 5 also includes: «Don’t post flame-bait», «Be pleasantand polite»(basically, a mixed bag of advice)«Sharing your knowledge is fun. It’s a long-time nettradition. And it makes the world a better place».because these are disruptive, embarrassing to others and ifprolonged, wasteful of bandwidth.Don’t forward another’s mail without permission.«Those in authority, such as system administrators, shouldnot abuse their power by taking advantage of it (say, byreading someone’s e-mail)» [as reported in Wood and Smith2004: 135]«Everyone’s a newbie sometime, so if you feel that youmust point out an error to someone, do so politely». [seeWood and Smith 2004: 135]420