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Always remember that everyone else on the list has already gotten the original email that you're replying to, so it's never necessary to quote the entire email and absolutely unnecessary under any circumstances to quote an entire digest! Beyond simple common courtesy, some countries (like large parts of Europe) still charge for local phone service by the minute so every unneeded word in your email costs them money to download. Also, quoting extra unnecessary text can result in your words getting lost, losing their impact as people struggle to find what you're saying. If you quote the entire original email and put your reply at the bottom, people who are sight-impaired and using text readers to hear your email will have to listen to the original email all over again before getting to your comments and may simply give up and skip your email (and any future emails from you) entirely.

So, in order to communicate effectively, to entice people to read your gems of wisdom :), snip, snip, snip and snip some more! Delete any extraneous header info that your mail program may have quoted, leave the sender's name so people know who you're talking to, then delete unneeded text, whittle it down to the pertinent points you're responding to. Remember that people have already read the original email, so you only need enough text to jog their memory about what you're replying to. If you're responding to a single point in an email, it is acceptable to put your reply at the top of the email with the original email below BUT don't forget to snip anyway, leave just the original pertinent text and the sender's name or email address.

If your reply is complex, responding to three or four or more points or questions in the original email, then it's better if you intersperse your replies with the quoted text, like this:

Mary, Helen or Pat said:
> blah-dee blah-dee, blah-dee dee-dee and more
> blah-dee blah-dee, blah-dee dee-dee

I think blah blah blah and blah blah blah.

> oogly boogly blah dee blah dee blah blah
> and still more oogly boogly blah blah

And my response to this is blee blee blah blah

(signed) Any Tom, Dick or Harry

Using that method, it reads like a conversation, one person says something, then another replies, then the first person says something else and the second replies again. If you lurk for a bit after joining a list, you'll get a feel for how replies are handled and can then follow that example. But even if everyone else replies on top and quotes the entire original email below, PLEASE snip unnecessary text! It's a good habit to develop and will come in handy on other lists, plus it reduces bandwidth on the net, it's the virtual version of recycling newspapers and soda pop cans.

References: http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/usenet/brox.html; http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/gey_stv0.htm; http://www.planefacts.ndirect.co.uk/group/advice/


[20] What's with all that weird spelling, bad grammar, strange abbreviations and other stuff?

Like I talked about typing in all caps, there's lots of ways to demonstrate emotion in email, using *'s around words for emphasis, using smiley faces and other emoticons, using acronyms like LOL for Laughing Out Loud and more. People may also use slang, both real life slang and computer slang like using "4" instead of "for" or "u" instead of "you". On some lists, this type of thing is common, on others, it's not, just depends on the general list atmosphere and any rules the listowner makes about it. For a listing of the basic acronyms and emoticons, check out Dr. Internut's Internet Resource Clinic pages about acronyms and emoticons.

As for bad grammar and spelling errors, it's important to remember that every user on the internet isn't a secretary! :) Many people don't know how to type by touch and the keyboard layout isn't always easy for beginners. And remember that you're dealing with a wide spectrum of people on the net, with varying backgrounds and educations and in various countries where English may not be their first language and some people are not as comfortable with the written word as others. Enjoy the diversity and the chance to reach to across borders and around the world and experience different cultures, look for what people mean to say, rather than how they phrased it or spelled it. If you're still confused, ask politely, explain that you're just not clear on what they meant and that you want to understand, if they wouldn't mind giving more detail or talking more about their theory. Keep in mind that we all communicate in different ways and that is the beauty of life! :)


[21] What's a sig line? How long should it be? (aka Can I include every great quote or website I've ever heard or visited? How about all this nifty ASCII artwork I made?)

A sig line is what you put after your name, it can be any number of things, your email address, your personal or business website, personal or company information, a quote you really like, your philosophy of life, a website you really like, ASCII art (making images out of text, similar to emoticons, for more info, check out Google's ASCII Art category) or just about anything else you want to put there. With HTML email, you can also include images or insert things like the current weather report for your locale. Commonly used email programs (Outlook Express, Eudora, etc.) and other mail providers (Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc.) usually give you some method of automatically inserting your sig line before sending out your email.

As you can imagine, people can get carried away sig lines, I've personally seen sig lines that are more than 40 lines long! That can be very frustrating when the actual content of the email is very small, a few lines or even just a "me too!" comment. So, as with snipping text when replying, be kind to your fellow list members and the internet, keep it succinct and to the point. The general recommendation is no more than four lines up to a total of 150 characters. A URL is allowed, but no advertising. Also check the list rules because many lists have rules about sig lines, either limiting them in length or restricting what type of content you can have or disallowing them altogether.


[22] Flames are derogatory or implied derogatory responses to any given post. Most listowners prefer that people post in a mature manner and may enforce strict rules about flaming. If you really can't restrain yourself from telling someone they're an idiot, it's best to do it off the list, in a private email, rather than on the list.

And bear in mind that the person you think is an idiot may actually be a troll. Trolls are people who spend their time trolling lists (like trolling for fish), ready to incite flames and stir up trouble just because they can. If you respond on list or even in private, you're simply satisfying the troll, giving him or her what they want. Some trolls even aim to destroy a list by causing so much trouble that the members who post regularly simply give up and leave and the group dies. There's a newsgroup for these people (and no doubt lists, too) where they plan these attacks and then boast gleefully when they successfully destroy a group. So don't feed the trolls!

Then there's spammers, people who join a list only to sell something or promote their website that sells something. Most lists have strict rules about spam and generally strive to keep spammers off their lists and remove and ban them if they do manage to join. Most of the schemes that spammers promote either in email or on a website are fraud, they work by getting you to buy some kit or package which promises to help you get rich but all it does is give the spammer your money instead. Robert Heinlein said it best, TANSTAAFL, There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch! So don't be taken by these con men and don't pass on their trash to anyone else.

And then there's the ordinary, garden variety psycho which can turn up on a list in many different guises and cause all sorts of ruckus. The seeming anonymity of the internet can bring out the best and the worst in people. So exercise caution and common sense, don't give out personal details, name, address, phone number, etc. even if you really think you know someone, it's very easy to be fooled on the net.