This Week in: Netiquette

Well, not really this week, more like this month but after a deep conversation about online courtesy, decency and communication standards with Anna this morning, I was reminded that I've been holding on to some interesting things that I've been meaning to share.

• Make your emails CLEAR compliant.  CLEAR is an acronym for a method of writing emails that will make them shorter and to the point and reduce the number you receive if you and your colleagues follow its simple guidelines
• Write like Lincoln - Just send the nasty grams to yourself
• How to master the subject line to get your email read
• Don't say no in an email.  Tim includes a video clip where he explains the limitations of email in conveying true meaning and intent and why you shouldn't say no via email

- Making your Email More Effective; A Lesson from Lincoln, Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms, 03.16.07

I'm a big stickler for good email communication, particularly at work. We even recently had compliance training about proper email etiquette.

Author Vladimir Nabokov said in a 1969 New York Times interview that "there should exist a special typographical sign for a smile--some sort of concave mark, a supine round bracket."

Now, nearly four decades later, there is just such a typographical symbol-- :-), or :) for the minimalists, and it'd be tough to find a tech-savvy person who hasn't leaned on it. There's also a special typographical symbol for a frown-- :-( -- and one for a cool dude in sunglasses -- B-) -- and one for a wink -- ;-). There's even a typographical sign for wearing a baseball cap-- d=D.

- The Web Smiley's motto: Grin and Bear It, C|Net, 03.13.07

I over-use emoticons in IM (where I'm less sure about people getting the nuance of my writing) and probably under-use them in conversational emails.

The subject of online courtesy or "netiquette" (what an outdated word) is frequently discussed in old media. Some blame the impersonality of the media itself. Others say that people haven't changed at all "" the Internet is just another venue in which people can malign and mistreat each other. On some level this is true. It's an extension of the playground, where adults can pick on one another without a teacher's watchful eyes upon them.

Younger Internet users are the ones who actually seem to be using the Web to form online communities, make friends and promote their art via sites like Facebook, Myspace, Bored At and Second Life. It's the so-called grown-ups pulling each others pigtails and bullying the meek.

- Bad Behavior 2.0, Portsmouth Herald, 03.30.07

I won't really get into how sweeping (and sweepingly wrong) the second paragraphs generalization is. What I found most interesting is her thought that netiquette is an outdated word. I'm inclined to agree but have no idea what should take it's place. Any thoughts?

This post's soundtrack:

1. Dora by Kyoto
2. That Easy by Clara Hill
3. Soon by Jazzanova
4. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free by Nina Simone