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dreamworld.org mailing list help
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On the internet, it is considered polite to edit your replies. This online politeness is called netiquette.
Pretend
that you receive an email from your pal Thomas Jefferson asking
for your opinion of something he's working on.
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From: t.jefferson@continentalcongress.gov "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" What do you guys think? Feedback please? |
Here is the way you do not want to format your reply.
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From: you@YourISP.com Sounds ok. What's with all the "men" stuff? What
about women? Hey, I fear future supreme courts will have
a problem figuring this out. And are you getting rid of
capital punishment now? Just my two cents. t.jefferson@continentalcongress.gov wrote : >
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are > What do you guys think? Feedback
please? |
| Gee what could be wrong with this nice reply? | |
Wasteful |
This wastes internet bandwidth because it quotes the entire message, forcing the internet and mail servers to handle a message that is larger than necessary. Added up over millions of messages, it forces netizens to pay higher internet costs, and ISPs to buy bigger hardware. All this is needless since Tom already knows what he wrote very well, and everyone in the mypals group already read it and doesn't need to see all of it all over again. |
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Backwards |
Everyone in the mypals group will be forced to read the message backwards, if they want to know what you're talking about. The reply coming before the question is backwards. |
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Annoying |
Many people are on digest mode. This means that they will be forced to deal with a huge digest download composed mainly of the same text over and over and over and over. This will also make it harder to pick out the fresh content in the replies. |
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Problematic |
Some people who are legally blind must use automatic readers to "orally" read out to them what the email says. This forces them to take forever to read list emails since their robotic reader must repeat the same text over and over. Yes, this has actually happened in one of the lists here. |
| Confusing |
It's hard to tell which feedback refers to which sentence. Future supreme courts will have a problem with...which line? |
| It
hurts YOU |
For all the above reasons, people will have a harder time understanding what you're saying. They may take what you say less seriously, or your message may get across to fewer people. |
It is in your best interests not to do this.
Ahhh, here is the nice way of doing replies.
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From: you@YourISP.com t.jefferson@continentalcongress.gov wrote : > all men are created equal What's with all the "men" stuff? What about women?
Life? Are you getting rid of capital punishment now?
I fear future supreme courts will have a problem figuring this out
Just my
two cents. |
Note that this style gracefully resolves all the problems mentioned above.
Reply like this, and you will be admired throughout the width and breadth of this great land.