1. OA Region III, August 2010 White-Glove Email (etiquette in the digital world)‏ How to send mail that people look forward to. Mary H., Region III Communications Secretary r3commsec@oaregion3.org Clyde H., Region III Webmaster r3webmaster@oaregion3.org

2. OA Region III, August 2010 The ‘E-Word” Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group.

3. OA Region III, August 2010 Etiquette in the digital world? E-mail is just a way of communication. It is in essence no different than the telephone. Lack of real-time feedback can make us forget this. The “keyboard personality syndrome.”

4. OA Region III, August 2010 Etiquette = Respect + Courtesy Treat others the way you would like to be treated. If you would not say it to their face, then don’t put it into a e-mail. Words spoken vanish into air, e- mails don’t - treat them as written letters. Unlike paper letters, e-mails can be quickly shared with a lot of people. “Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen.” AA 12&12, pp 91.

5. OA Region III, August 2010 Common E-etiquette “Fox Paws” TOO MANY BIG LETTERS!! “Me, Me, Me!” “I just wanted to share this..” The super-sized message “That’s not what I meant!” “Reply To All” Speling and punctuation’

6. OA Region III, August 2010 TOO MANY BIG LETTERS!! IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING!!! This can be highly annoying and can trigger a response in kind, known in cyberspace parlance as a flame mail.

7. OA Region III, August 2010 Me, Me, Me! It is not always necessary to reply to an email. Enter a conversation when you have information to contribute. Remember anonymity and humility.

8. OA Region III, August 2010 ‘I just want to share this …’ Do not forward chain letters. It is safe to assume that all of them are hoaxes. Just because something strikes your fancy that doesn’t mean that everybody needs to see it. Use discretion. Forwarded messages can carry viruses which can infect other computers.

9. OA Region III, August 2010 The super-sized message Typically the result of the ‘include original message in reply’ setting. Every time a message goes back and forth it gets longer and harder to read. If you are responding only to particular sections of a message, include only those parts in your reply. Keeping it simple keeps it understandable.

10. OA Region III, August 2010 “That’s not what I meant!” Emotions are difficult to transmit over e-mail. Intentions even more so. Tone of voice transmits so much but that’s missing on- line. This means we can easily be misinterpreted, usually with unpleasant results. “Emoticons” :-) are cute ways to express intent.

11. OA Region III, August 2010 Reply to All A quick way to become spam filter bait or the guest of honor of resentment inventories. “Reply to all” should not be your default setting. Pay attention to the to: and cc: lines - do you really need to send your message to all those people? Probably not. If you do need to reply to all, be considerate.

12. OA Region III, August 2010 Speling and Punctuation’ Your mail program has a spelling checker - turn it on! However - don’t blindly trust your spell checker - it will happily accept a wrong word - for example it’s a web ‘site’ not web ‘sight’. Spelling errors distract from what you have to say. Punctuation errors are usually not so glaring but are also usually easily avoided. Use apostrophes and commas sparingly.

13. OA Region III, August 2010 So what do I do? Think before you hit ‘send’- make a phone call if needed. Be concise. Make spell-check your friend. Look at the ‘to:” and “cc:” lists before doing “reply to all” - chances are that not everyone there is relevant to your message. Remember that words on the screen lack nuisances of intent. If giving a short answer to a long question, include only the relevant part of the question in your reply. Be respectful - if you would not say it to the recipient’s face then don’t put it in an e-mail. Use attachments sparingly. Have an security package on your computer to prevent spreading web and mail-borne viruses.

14. OA Region III, August 2010 What about those other people? The ‘delete’ button is your friend. Keep copies of what you send - most mail programs can do this. “The Steps keep us from killing ourselves, the Traditions keep us from killing each other.” “Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen.” AA 12&12, pp 91.

15. OA Region III, August 2010 Resources http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html http://www.dtcc.edu/cs/rfc1855.html http://www.sc.edu/bck2skol/fall/lesson11.html http://www.studygs.net/netiquette.htm

16. OA Region III, August 2010 White-Glove Email (etiquette in the digital world)‏ Questions? Mary H., Region III Communications Secretary r3commsec@oaregion3.org Clyde H., Region III Webmaster r3webmaster@oaregion3.org