page background

Netiquette

Civility in a Digital Learning Community

NetiquetteCivility in a Digital Learning Community

The Core Rules of Netiquette by Virginia Shea

  1. Remember the human: Never forget that the person reading your mail or posting is, indeed, a person with feelings that can be hurt.

  2. Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life: Be ethical.

  3. Know where you are in cyberspace: Netiquette varies from domain to domain.

  4. Respect other people's time and bandwidth: Post messages to the appropriate discussion group. When appropriate, use private email instead of posting to the group.

  5. Make yourself look good online: Check grammar and spelling before you post.

  6. Share expert knowledge: Offer answers and help to people who ask questions on discussion groups. If you've received email answers to a posted question, summarize them and post the summary to the discussion group.

  7. Help keep flame wars under control: Don't respond to flame-bait. Don't post spelling or grammar flames.

  8. Respect other people's privacy.

  9. Don't abuse your power: The more power you have, the more important it is that you use it well.

  10. Be forgiving of other people's mistakes.