Good Habits for Email and Discussion Messages

I wanted to share this with you, even though the tone is a bit negative. It does give some important suggestions to keep in mind as you communicate during the online discussions or send email messages.

1. Don't commit to anything electronically that you wouldn't want to become public knowledge. Postings in the online discussion are ultimately open to anyone.

2. Don't send or post abusive, bigoted, or harassing messages. If you have a message you would not comfortably say to someone's face, don't send it electronically either.

3. Remember that the reader does not know your frame of mind, so sarcasm and humor may not come off well. You may view it as a friendly conversation, but to others it may be more like a business letter. “Emotions” or “smileys” can be very effective additions to your messages. Tilt your head to the left to read some examples below:

:-) basic smile
:^) basic smile version 2
:-( frown
=) glazed-over (too much typing? learning?)
;-) wink
:-D big smile
:-o oh, no!
:-z oh, dear!

4. Keep the length of your message as short as possible. You are better off getting to the point immediately.

5. Use the return key for paragraph breaks. A long message that has no visible breaks can be difficult to read. Write short paragraphs of 2 to 3 sentences maximum.

6. Use mixed case in your message. All uppercase words can be added for emphasis, but if used throughout a message it can appear to be like shouting. Instead emphasize words using bold. Similarly, all lowercase lettering is hard to read because it is difficult to tell where sentences begin and end.

If your email does not allow you to make words bold, you can emphasize words by putting "stars" around them like *this*.

7. Read your email message before you send it. Once it is sent, there is no getting it back! Discussion messages can be edited and changed, but once you send an email it’s out of your hands.