Email is one of the greatest conveniences of the Internet.

However, it can also create trouble just as easily. Hasty replies, unclear writing, jokes that are misconstrued, are among the hazards that befall the best-intentioned correspondents, while the feeling of anonymity can inspire thoughtless cruelty in the worst in the form of verbal bashing or "flaming."

A certain amount of politeness or "netiquette," as it's termed online, is useful to diminish chances of misunderstanding and hurt feelings. There's no universally accepted standard or arbiter of online courtesy, but adhering to a few principles can make avoiding foot-in-mouth disease much easier.

Always assume every discussion is public. You never know who may see what you write, now or years later. Email is about as secure as a postcard, and should be treated as such.

Plain text email does not render subtle meanings well. Since there's no way to judge tone of voice or expression, visual cues need to be used, especially for dark humor, sarcasm and irony. Thus "smilies" or "emoticons" and abbreviations like <g> for "giggle" or LOL for "laugh out loud" ROFLOL, "roll on the floor, laughing out loud" and so on, are plentiful and can be lifesavers. Use them freely whenever there's the slightest doubt that your intended meaning could be misinterpreted.

Quoting can be an art, and a challenge. Many email programs are set to automatically quote the entire text of everything written before. Often what's quoted may include much extraneous verbiage, and you may delete what is unnecessary. To indicate the missing portion, mark it with “[snip]”, but whether you place your reply above or below depends on your audience. Some mailing lists, for example, can be quite insistent on putting one's reply on the bottom, others on top.

And of course, good, old-fashioned politeness pays off. Remember the Golden Rule. Insult and you will be insulted in return. "Please" and "thank you" are never out of style.

from SWCP Portal, June 2007