jts@siemens.UUCP (James T Sasaki) (10/12/87)
In the interest of furthering amity on the net (and in the hope of reducing the
amount of, uh, business transacted over the net that might be better transacted
through the mail), I'm posting a few excerpts from news.announce.newusers, the
group for new users. (You've never subscribed to it? Try it sometime -- there
are only a few articles in it, and they're re-sent regularly.)
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A Primer on How to Work With the USENET Community
Chuq Von Rospach
Never Forget that the Person on the Other Side is Human
Because your interaction with the network is through a computer it is easy
to forget that there are people "out there." Situations arise where
emotions erupt into a verbal free-for-all that can lead to hurt feelings.
Please remember that people all over the world are reading your words. Do
not attack people if you cannot persuade them with your presentation of
the facts. Screaming, cursing, and abusing others only serves to make
people think less of you and less willing to help you when you need it.
Use Mail, Don't Post a Follow-up
One of the biggest problems we have on the network is that when someone
asks a question, many people send out identical answers. When this
happens, dozens of identical answers pour through the net. Mail your
answer to the person and suggest that they summarize to the network. This
way the net will only see a single copy of the answers, no matter how many
people answer the question.
If you post a question, please remind people to send you the answers by
mail and offer to summarize them to the network.
Summary of Things to Remember
Never forget that the person on the other side is human
Be brief
Your postings reflect upon you; be proud of them
Use descriptive titles
Think about your audience
Be careful with humor and sarcasm
Only post a message once
Please rotate material with questionable content
Summarize what you are following up
Use mail, don't post a follow-up
Read all follow-ups and don't repeat what has already been said
Be careful about copyrights and licenses
Cite appropriate references
When summarizing, summarize
Mark or rotate answers or spoilers
Spelling flames considered harmful
Don't overdo signatures
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-- Jim Sasaki (jts%siemens.com@{relay.cs.net,csnet-relay.arpa},
princeton!siemens!jts)
Any opinions expressed above are my own and not necessarily those of Siemens
RTL, for whom I consult.