Netiquette – Being a good network citizen

This page presents some simple guidelines for electronic mail netiquette. It does not mandate any particular style or rules. Rather it is an attempt to highlight important issues affecting the electronic mail we send.

• Always include a subject in your e-mail.
• Remember that this is your professional account, to be used for school related business. It is not your personal e-mail account. You safeguard your mail from SPAM by limiting its use to school business.
• Sending giant files with vacation photos wastes everybody’s server space and can slow down file transfers.
• Never send anything you would not want to see in tomorrow's newspaper. There are no security guarantees with electronic mail. Avoid sending ANY confidential or sensitive information via e-mail. Remember, it's very easy for someone else to forward messages you thought were confidential.
• When you are upset or angry, wait, don’t send that e-mail now. Review the message after you have had time to calm down.
• Do not send abusive, harassing or threatening messages.
• Be cautious when using sarcasm and humor. Without facial expressions and tone of voice, they do not translate easily through e-mail.
• Keep messages and replies brief.
• Use e-mail in a professional manner. Remember, you cannot control where your message might be sent.
• Do not send chain letters through e-mail. This includes any message that contains a request to forward the information to lots of other people.
• Do not forward claims, stories or “virus warnings” without verification.
• Don't leave your e-mail account open when you leave your computer. Anyone could sit down at your keyboard and send out a libelous, offensive, or embarrassing message under your name.
• Don't send replies to "all users" unless there is a very specific need for everyone to receive the message. It wastes disk space, clutters up inboxes and can be annoying.
• When replying, keep messages brief and to the point. Don't reproduce a message in its entirety. Be selective with what you reproduce and only do it as needed.
• Remember that all laws governing copyright, defamation, discrimination and other forms of written communication also apply to e-mail.