Netiquette*

Do you like to be seen as rude, lazy or uneducated? Failing to follow some basic rules of web etiquette - netiquette - results in just that. Without the benefit of seeing you face to face (F2F), the type of human being that you are or are not, your intelligence, your professionalism and even your ethics will be judged by how you communicate with others online.

Email Netiquette

Become a good Netizen and follow these online basics in your online communications.

1. You are what you write. How and what you write provides clues to the kind of person you are. Learn to write clearly and accurately.
2. Assume that email is not secure. Never put in an email message anything you would not put on a postcard.
3. Use descriptive, key words in the subject heading. This allows the recipients to scan and prioritize a long list to which they must respond.
4. Do not type in all caps. This is considered yelling or screaming online. Used mixed case instead.
5. Respect the privacy of e-mail addresses. Always know to whom you are sending an email. If you wish to send to a group, learn to use the BCC feature of your email program: the receiver gets a copy of the e-mail but their email address remains invisible to the other recipients. If a message becomes a 2-way conversation, make sure you don’t include other people.
6. Be wise when forwarding private e-mails. All private email is considered to be copyrighted by the original author. Ask permission before forwarding/posting any private emails!
7. Know how large a message you are sending. Be brief and clear in your message. If you are sending attachment, minimize, compress or "zip" large files before sending. Be wise and don’t clutter another person’s mailbox will unnecessary messages.
8. Take the time to review your email before clicking send. Spell check your email, proofread for errors, capitalize your sentences and use appropriate punctuation and grammar. This is especially important in educational e-learning, business environments, or other online contacts where proper formatting is crucial to building your relationship and credibility.
9. Create a signature file. This is a line or two at the end of your message with contact information so people know who you are. Create it ahead of time so that it is automatically appended to all your e-mails.
10. Respond promptly to emails. Like phone calls or voicemails, provide quick feedback to your emails. If you want a quick response, remember that people live in different time zones and factor that in accordingly.
11. You are what you write. How you communicate will give a perception as to the kind of person you are. Learn to write with clarity.
12. Nasty e-mails rarely deserve a response. Ignore and delete them. It's the best snub.
13. Do not forward jokes and chain letter e-mails. If you must, ask first.
14. Get to know online acronyms. Popular ones include BTW, “by the way,” IMO, “in my opinion,” WTG, “way to go,” FYI, “for your information.” Keep in mind that acronyms may not be suitable for all emails.
15. Sending email in plain text is best. Email is a quick and straightforward form a communications. Adding unnecessary colour and/or graphic images may make your posting difficult to read since not all email software has the ability.
16. Be careful with humor and sarcasm. Written comments can often be misinterpreted. Emoticons (i.e., smiley faces or other symbols alongside your text) often help the recipient ‘interpret’ your intentions. Be safe and limit your use in professional environment

Chat Netiquette

• Use "Emoticons." Also referred to as smileys, these are characters or symbols which are used are used in conjunction with text to overlay emotion in a written message, to clarify the meaning. Here are just a few examples of some popular smileys (it helps if you read them sideways):

:-) smile	:-I hmmm	(:-) smiley big-face	;-) wink
:-( sad	[:-) listening to iPod	:-& tongue-tied	:-@ screaming
:-D big smile	:-} wry or fiendish grin	:-0 big mouth	:-] sarcasm

• Always say goodbye. When you are leaving a chat room or finished the conversation, let the other person know rather than leaving them hanging.
• Don’t correct typing errors. Unlike emails, the purpose of chat is to carry on a ‘live’ conversation. Punctuation and typos are accepted, as long as your meaning is clear.

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Do you agree, disagree or have your own to add? Leave a comment below.

Enough with the Subscribe Suggestions, Facebook

Dear Facebook,

Almost every time I go to Facebook you suggest people for me to subscribe to. I obviously do not want to subscribe to anyone and especially the people you think I would want to. I have 0 subscriptions and plan to keep it that way. And why is it that nine times out of ten you are recommending harlots, hussies and bimbos.

When I look for a reason, you give me this explanation.

Hear from interesting people
You've always been subscribed to friends. Now you can hear from journalists, celebrities, political figures and other people too. Click the Subscribe button on someone's profile to get their public updates in your News Feed. Find people to subscribe to.

I would be more interested in seeing which journalists and political figures you think I would be interested in but no such persons have been provided.

Perhaps the motivation for this feature design is supposed to emulate a service similar to that of Twitter and allow Facebook to take into that market. Or maybe there is a possibility of a profit being made similar to ads.

So far I have just been ignoring the entire right most region of the facebook pages, which means I don't see the ads or any legitimate recommendations that might apply to me which is a shame but sacrifices must be made.


Sincerely,
Me.

P.S. As i mentioned above, nine times out of ten.

Facebook Photo Tag Etiquette

We've all gotten the notifications, "So and so has tagged you in a photo", pictures that you never thought you would see online or you just happened to be in the shot. It's essentially harmless socializing, but it can become irritating and unwanted if allowed to run-a-muck. Especially for individuals who are caught in embarrassing situations, regardless of the rest of their lives.

For the most part Facebookers demonstrate etiquette when posting content of others. But not everyone abide by the same level of courtesy so Facebook allows for users to remove their tag from a photo, also the option to customize security settings to some extent.

The biggest danger regarding photo tagging currently is due to the rise in popularity of employers asking potential employees for their Facebook log-in information, in this case a couple of high school pictures posted by someone the applicant hasn't seen in years could cast a negative light on the applicant and be enough to cost him/her the job. In a more mundane scenario, someone could find themselves in hot water if an incriminating photo entered circulation, for example, pictures from the movies taken when the person was supposed to be studying.

With the securities Facebook has implemented so far, and the common sense factor of etiquette, the possibility of trouble can still arise from photos. Perhaps an addition security settings that a tagger must have approval from the taggy before their name or whatever can be published.

Do you know the etiquette of your own county?

So this is a cool site I found called International Business Etiquette, Manners, and Culture (IBEMC) it has a bunch of information on the countries all around the world, starting with an introduction about the Country in questions. Like how Canada has just less than 30 million people twice the size of the United States.  Fun facts are also detailed. The Geert Hofstede Analysis goes over some neat data and compares the country to others in important detail. Next is the appearance criteria, for business, casual, dress for weather and more, this one is interesting to me, especially for someone who travels to new places.  Another cool one is the regional behavior, this part is great and has stuff I never knew. Also communication, this part is cool, like how in Canada a firm handshake and good eye contact  are so important in North America but in a lot of places in the world it is thought of as confrontational  or else. Lastly a list of Resources are given at the end, which is great for someone doing research for schools or business or what ever. And for the general information seekers such as myself I've spent loads of time reading on IBEMC.

Visit the IBEMC