Subject: soc.culture.china FAQ(4)--Netiquette
Date: 3 Apr 1996 14:00:01 GMT
Summary: This posting contains a list of frequently-asked-questions
         (and their answers) about the newsgroup "soc.culture.china".
         The fourth part covers the issue of etiquette and is written 
         by Bo Peng <bpeng@chelsea.ios.com>, with assistance from 
         Mark Swofford <mswofford@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu>.

Posting-Frequency: approximately biweekly

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NETIQUETTE
  written by Bo Peng <boeng@chelsea.ios.com>
__________________________________________________________________
For comments and suggestions, please send your ideas to the first
author or to

   scc-faq@saavik.cem.msu.edu
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Netiquette: Etiquette for Net Surfing. 

No, this is not meant to teach you what to do or not to do. In
fact, I'm probably among the last few on Planet Earth to
qualify for giving instructions on manners. I simply don't
give a *BONK*...

Oops. That's what I mean. Feeling assured that we're not going to 
get kicked in the rear when arguing on-line, we all share the 
tendency of letting it all out:  being aggressive, bitter, or even 
downright nasty while being perfectly gentle, nice, and perhaps 
even sensible in real life. Just as people curse and honk and give 
each other the finger on the road, but the moment they step out of 
the car, they instantly warp through a few millennia and catch up 
with civilization. So don't feel too bad about yourself; you're 
not alone.

The only difference between net surfing and road surfing is that 
when you inadvertently make a fool of yourself over the net, 
people actually see it -- thousands, perhaps millions of them. 
Therefore, for your own sake, a little self-restraint and 
self-consciousness is in order. I speak here from my own 
experience, as someone who went through the "SOB" phase when I 
first stumbled into the wild and wonderful world of USENET.

Netiquette is all about common sense. The only reason we feel it's 
necessary to include this section in the FAQ is that, exactly 
because it *is* so common sense, it's all too easy to forget at 
times, especially when caught up in the heat of things. By 
definition, soc.culture.* groups are among the hotter places in 
USENET.

First and foremost, always remember that you're making a speech 
in front of perhaps millions of people all over the world 
whenever you post something to scc. The following "rules" are all 
corollaries of this "Zeroth Law".

1. Refrain from personal attacks, inflammatory remarks, and 
swearing. I know, it's not easy. But perhaps it'd help a little if 
you remember this: it does not work. Bullying may work in high 
schools or on the streets, but it simply doesn't work in netland. 
Just like you feel safe and sound letting it all go, the 
psychological barrier against flaming back is very low for your 
opponent. This is where the saying of "East wind blowing and drums 
rolling, nowadays who fears whom in this world..." is actually 
true.

Keep cool. If you're really irritated, ignore'em. Try to recall 
the frustration and the sense of defeat when you've been ignored 
(C'mon, everybody must've been ignored at least once!) and you'll 
realize how powerful silence can be. As the Chinese like to say, 
nobody is gonna mistake you for a mute.

2. This is soc.culture.china; talk.politics.china is a separate
group. Yes, they're closely related, as with everything else
when viewed from the purest, highest philosophical level. Yet one 
can safely say that many a post in scc by all means belongs to 
tpc or somewhere else. Again, trust your common sense in making 
the judgement.

3. Try to use smileys whenever appropriate. ;-)  You don't have 
the luxury of being helped and footnoted by body language over 
the net as in face-to-face conversations. 8-( Therefore, your 
remarks, especially friendly sarcasm, could easily be 
misunderstood as something else. 7-> |-o Personally, I hate using 
smileys :-[ because it often ruins the humor, as shouting 
"Everybody, smile!" after telling a joke. %-0 Unfortunately, such 
is reality. {:-* >8-(

4. Some types of discussion are better done in private. All
news readers I know provide the function of a private email 
"reply" in addition to the public "post" or "followup". In fact, 
experience suggests that private exchanges are often more 
efficient in carrying out meaningful discussions.

5. Try to read through the post you'd like to comment on in its 
entirety before sending out the follow-up. Much unfortunate and 
unnecessary misunderstanding has occurred simply because one side 
didn't have the basic courtesy of listening to what the other 
had to say before jumping up and criticizing. It's not Jeopardy;
you have all the time in the world. It's unhealthy to think all 
the time that the world is anxiously waiting for you to provide 
an answer, although it often feels that way.

6. Try to read all follow-ups on the same thread before composing 
your own. With so many netters out there being so outspoken and 
diversified on virtually every issue, chances are that someone 
else has already said at least part of what you want to say.

7. It's always a good idea to include relevant parts of the post 
you're commenting on, so that people know what you're talking 
about. It's an even better idea to delete the irrelevant parts and 
keep it compact. A follow-up with 184 lines of the original post 
followed by "Agreed!" hardly means anything. Nobody is counting 
votes, you know.

8. Be concise and focus on the point.

9. Try to do your own homework before burdening fellow netters 
with your question or inquiry. It's tempting to throw out a 
question, sit back and wait for the answer to come your way. 
There's nothing inherently wrong with that. After all, a primary 
purpose of USENET is for people to help each other. Just remember 
that getting help from others is a privilege, not a right. Try to 
locate relevant FAQs, like this one, before screaming for help. 
Your question could have been asked and answered by others a 
hundred times already.

10. Chek you speling befor sneding ti aut. English is a foreign
language for many netters of scc;  thus proofreading can be
somewhat tedious. But if you go to the trouble of typing out the 
point you want to make, why ruin it with simple, idiotic typos? 
It can even be a good practice.

11. DO NOT USE ALL-CAPS or excessive exclamation 
marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All-caps and excessive exclamation 
marks convey a sense of shouting. Nobody likes being yelled at. 
And it's all too easy for others to turn away when they find 
yelling on the net. If you want to emphasize a certain phrase, 
using "*"  or "_" is *generally* considered a _better_ way.

Last but perhaps the most important:  relax. Contrary to the 
common perception, you're not in scc to save the world, not even 
the 1.2 billion Chinese. Heck, you don't even get paid a lousy 
dime for all your anger, frustration, and time. 

So, take it easy, be nice, be cool, and happy 
soc.culture.china'ing!

------------------------------------------------------
written by:     Bo Peng <bpeng@chelsea.ios.com>

with editorial assistance from:
                Mark Swofford <mswofford@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu>
_______________________________________________________________

List of soc.culture.china FAQ authors and contributors
(in alphabetical order)

Jihong Cole-Dai  <jidai@magnus.acs.ohio-sate.edu>
Bo Peng          <bpeng@chelsea.ios.com>
Ray Zhan Su
Mark Swofford    <mswoffrod@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu
Wuchun Wu        <wuwu@phys.ksu.edu>
Tung-Chiang Yang <tcyang@ee.ucla.edu>

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