This resource was developed in 2002 by the LearnScope NSW Teaching Counselling Online team, based at Relationships Australia (NSW). Many thanks to the team for sharing this valuable resource with the community.

This resouce will provide you with a list of pointers on how to interact online using a set common conventions usually referred to as "netiquette" and "chatiquette". Using these guidelines will help you become more effective in your communications online.

Netiquette

Clarity in Postings
Give all postings a clear and relevant title. Avoid using vague or ambiguous titles such as ‘News’, ‘Hi’ ‘Latest work’ etc.

Remember the human
When you communicate electronically, all you see is a computer screen. You don't have the opportunity to use facial expression, gestures and tone of voice to communicate your meaning (apart from using emoticons); words - lonely written words - are all you've got. When you're holding a conversation online - whether it's an e-mail exchange or a response to a discussion group posting -it's easy to misinterpret your correspondent's meaning. And it's easy to forget that your correspondent is a person with feelings more or less like your own.

Be ethical
When you communicate through cyberspace - via email or on discussion groups - your words are written. And chances are they are stored somewhere where you have no control over them. In other words, there's a good chance they can come back to haunt you. If you encounter an ethical dilemma in cyberspace, consult your professional code of ethics.

Lurk before you leap
When you enter a chat, discussion group that's new to you, take a look around. Spend a while listening to the chat or reading the archives. Get a sense of how the people who are already there act. Then go ahead and participate.

Respect other people's time
People seem to have less time than ever before and have a lot of information to absorb. When you send e-mail or post to a discussion group, you're taking up other peoples time (or hoping to). It's your responsibility to ensure that the time they spend reading your posting isn't wasted.

Know what you're talking about and make sense
Make sure your notes are clear and logical and know what you are talking about. Be pleasant and polite. Don't use offensive language, and don't be confrontation for the sake of confrontation.

Share expert knowledge
When you post a question to a discussion group (using expert forums, particularly for Understanding Behaviour) request replies by e-mail instead of to the group. When you get all those responses, write up a summary and post it to the students' discussion board. That way, everyone benefits from the experts who took the time to write to you. Also post some resource lists and bibliographies of books and articles.

Help keep flame wars under control
"Flaming" is what people do when they express a strongly held opinion without holding back any emotions. Flames can be lots of fun, both to write and to read. But Netiquette does forbid the perpetuation of flame wars. Series of angry letters, most of them from two or three people directed toward each other that can dominate the tone and destroy the camaraderie of a discussion group. It's unfair to the other members of the group and it also can get boring very quickly to people who aren't involved in them.

Be forgiving of other people's mistakes
When someone makes a mistake (even if you feel strongly about it) think twice before reacting. Having good manners yourself doesn't give you licence to correct everyone else. If you do decide to inform someone of a mistake, point it out politely, and preferable by private email rather than in public. Give people the benefit of the doubt; assume they just don't know any better.

Chatiquette

It is helpful to have common rules for chats online.  This makes what can be a wild and chaotic experience instead useful and enjoyable. The following are some of those ideas:

• Respect the viewpoint of all participants
  
• Wait to be recognised to speak
  
• No shouting (ALL CAPS)
  
• No profanity or inappropriate language
  
• No putdowns or insults
  
• No flirting or private messages
  
• If you want to speak, please "raise your hand" by putting:
  ? onscreen for a question
  !  onscreen for a comment
  
• Type "ga" at the end of your post to indicate you are finished.
  ga  =  "Go Ahead"
  ...  =  I'm still speaking, please wait
  (name)* =  agree
  :-) or :)  =  appreciative grin or any other appropriate emoticons.
  
• I, myself like this one:
  %-)  =  User has been staring at the screen too long.
  
• Message lengths: Try to be brief. If you have more than a couple of sentences to input, type a sentence, end it with "..." to let others know more is on the way, then continue. This procedure also helps the flow, since messages take a little while to reach everyone's screen.
  
• Spelling doesn't count: The key stroke flies quickly in a chat, so let's not worry about misspelled words. Ideas are more important than spelling in this context.

A very useful website is: www.muller-godschalk.com/emoticon.html