Netiquette

1. Participate. Reading the posts of others is helpful for you, but you must also do your part to be helpful for the group. Share your ideas to strengthen our discussion, and don’t wait until the last minute to contribute. Encourage others to participate by responding to their ideas. Be involved, but do not dominate a forum with too many posts.

2. Remember the human. This common Internet mantra means that even though we may not be face to face, there is a real person behind each discussion-board post. Do not write something that you would not feel comfortable saying in a traditional classroom setting. Discuss ideas, not people. In other words, do not attack a classmate for expressing his or her opinion; instead, discuss your position on the ideas that have been presented. Be kind and understanding with your classmates to keep our environment positive and productive.

3. Help others. We will be working together all semester, so let’s try to be a good team. If you can help a classmate with a question, please do! Your efforts will be appreciated by both students and instructor.

4. Respect other people’s time. The subject line for each post should tell readers the specific topic of that post. Instead of “Forum 2,” give us a preview of your post: “Boyle’s use of symbolism.” Your post should be focused, organized, and clear. It should not be a wandering discussion that has no clear purpose. Another way to respect people’s time is to look for answers before asking for help. For example, if you can’t find something in Blackboard or you don’t remember when an assignment is due, look through the syllabus and other course documents for the answer. Only ask for help when you truly need it.

5. Edit and proofread before posting. We have lots of posts to read, so yours needs to be as clear as it can be. It should be organized and written in standard English. Not fixing misspellings and other errors tells your readers that you don’t value their time and you don’t care if they get frustrated trying to understand you. This does not build good will. Avoid slang and unfamiliar abbreviations for the same reason.

6. Don’t shout. TYPING IN ALL CAPITALS MEANS YOU ARE SHOUTING AT US! Don’t do it. The same can be said of repeated exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!

7. Use emoticons sparingly. Social networking and texting have given us lots of fun keyboard shortcuts to add tone to a message. Because a smiley face or wink can help to establish the intended tone of a comment, you are welcome to use common emoticons occasionally. Too many emoticons can make your writing look more casual than academic, so don’t overdo it. :-)

8. No flaming. “Flaming” is an angry message, often directed at another person. When another person responds in anger, we have a “flame war” taking over the discussion board. Personal attacks are unacceptable in the classroom, and the same goes for the cyber classroom. If you see a conflict developing, jump in and try to calm things down; if you feel attacked, contact your instructor rather than responding to the flaming student. Everything we do in Blackboard is permanent, so you must think very carefully about your tone before submitting a post. If you don’t, that mistake might haunt you for the rest of the semester.