Sunday, September 29, 2013

Essential online etiquettes - Netiquettes

Hello friends!!

I welcome you to another blog post.

We all are used to attending social gatherings– like house warming ceremony, marriage ceremonies & several other auspicious occasions, aren’t we? We wear specific attires or clothes which are suitable for these occasions. We purchase sweets, cloth pieces & essential table top or decorative objects & gift them to the family members who host these occasions. Why do we do so? Because, it is an etiquette or mannerism which is to be followed during social ceremonies or occasions. Also, it is considered acceptable as well as mandatory to follow these social etiquettes.

Similarly, some etiquettes need to be followed in the fast-paced, net savvy world of today. You would ask, “Which etiquettes?” They are the network etiquettes or netiquettes. These netiquettes are regarded as acceptable as well as mandatory just like the social etiquettes. The netiquettes should be followed while interacting online especially while composing formal or business emails. So, finally, these netiquettes are mentioned & described below for you to follow:

The Golden Rules of Netiquettes

·         avoid typing emails with ALL CAPITALS.
·         check your tone, means donot become angry or rude while interacting online.  
·         avoid typing emails with first person. For example, 'I completed the work.' Instead of it, utilize indirect speech or inclusive pronouns & then type: 'We completed the work' or 'The work has been completed by me.' Whenever, indirect speech or inclusive pronouns are included, the email and your attitude sounds very humble.

Some more important netiquettes:

 ·         Always mention the subject of your email in the subject line. Because, it is important to gain the attention of the receiver to read your email. 


  • State the purpose of your email, initially i.e. in the first 2 to 3 lines of the email.
 ·         Use plain font sizes like - Sans Serif 3 if you wish to type directly in the email space. If you want to type first in a Word document & then paste the text in the email space, then, use Times New Roman font with 12 point size.
  •  After including the email id of main receiver in the ‘To’ space, type the names of other receivers, if any, in BCC bar (Blind Carbon Copy) to protect their privacy.   
  •  Ensure accurate punctuation & spelling in your email before sending it off. Because, it will enhance your online image.
  •         Avoid typing short forms like asap/ fyi. You can type these if the receiver knows them. Instead, you can type the full forms, which are ‘As soon as possible’ & ‘for your information’, respectively.

      ·    Ensure compatibility of attachments with the software of the receiver. For example: check whether an attachment with pdf format can be opened by the receiver. Please clarify these formats by emailing about it to the receiver before sending attachments. Always scan any type of attachment with antivirus software packages prior to sending it.

    ·         ‘Share’ your photos online instead of attaching them; because, attached photos would consume lot of time to be downloaded by the receiver. 


    ·         Compress photos/images which are more than 5 MB
    ·         Donot forward an individual’s email without his/her permission. If permitted, you should mention the purpose of that email before forwarding it to someone else.
    ·       Avoid swearing means donot type the objectionable or “bad words” while interacting online. Please remain silent if you tend to throw such unpleasant words in your email, online forums, discussion forums or in the comment boxes of some websites and blogs.
    ·         Avoid flaming = deliberate insult & avoid trolling = sparking arguments online. These two behaviours are strictly against netiquettes.
    ·         Donot forward chain letters. For example: Hoax chain letters which promise attractive amount of money, Urban Legend letters that display a mythical story & tempt you to forward it to 10 or 20 others to achieve good luck and also do not forward letters which compel you to forward them by threatening you.
    The snapshots of 3 types of chain letters - Hoax, urban legend & life threatening respectively, are shown below:
    Hoax chain letter

    Urban legend chain letter

    Life threatening chain letter


    ·         Donot share sensitive information like login/user ids, passwords & contact numbers of your trustworthy contacts with third parties or your other connections & contact persons.


    Please read the information from following web links which were referred by me before composing today’s post:

    Ehow.com:

    What is the golden rule of netiquette

    What Is Web Netiquette? 

    List of netiquette breaches

    Types of chain letters 


    Youtube.com:

    Please paste these video links alongwith their titles & then play them.

    What is Netiquette & Why is it Important? 

    How to follow proper netiquette rules?  

    Writing 101: 1st, 2nd and 3rd Person

    Hope you would sincerely follow these netiquettes. 

    Meet you soon.

    Thank you.

2 comments:

Doo/-/eet@@ said...

Hi Sneha... Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips. They are so much needed today. You can also include some netiquette tips on online chatting, debating and commenting... many people take the advantage of anonymity and don't hesitate to post rude comments targeting different communities and groups. One is free to have an unfavorable opinion about something or someone and even to express it online, but this should be done with an element of civility.
I hope people take inspiration from your post. ~ DuhitaDesai

Unknown said...

Dear Duhita, thanks a lot for commenting & encouraging my Blog. I'll surely continue to post many more informative blog articles. Best wishes.