netiquette
 /net'ee?ket/, /net?i?ket/, n.

    [Coined by Chuq von Rospach c.1983] [portmanteau, network + etiquette] The
    conventions of politeness recognized on Usenet, such as avoidance of
    cross-posting to inappropriate groups and refraining from commercial
    pluggery outside the biz groups.

netiquette

    /net'ee-ket/ or /net'i-ket/ Network
   etiquette.

   The conventions of politeness recognised on Usenet and in
   mailing lists, such as not (cross-)posting to inappropriate
   groups and refraining from commercial advertising outside the
   biz groups.

   The most important rule of netiquette is "Think before you
   post".  If what you intend to post will not make a positive
   contribution to the newsgroup and be of interest to several
   readers, don't post it!  Personal messages to one or two
   individuals should not be posted to newsgroups, use private
   e-mail instead.

   When following up an article, quote the minimum necessary to
   give some context to your reply and be careful to attribute
   the quote to the right person.  If the article you are
   responding to was posted to several groups, edit the
   distribution ("Newsgroups:") header to contain only those
   groups which are appropriate to your reply, especially if the
   original message was posted to one or more inappropriate
   groups in the first place.

   Re-read and edit your posting carefully before you post.
   Check the spelling and grammar.  Keep your lines to less than
   70 characters.  Don't post test messages (except to test
   groups) - wait until you have something to say.  When posting
   humorous or sarcastic comments, it is conventional to append
   a smiley, but don't overuse them.

   Before asking a question, read the messages already in the
   group and read the group's FAQ if it has one.  When you do
   post a question, follow it with "please reply by mail and I
   will post a summary if requested" and make sure you DO post a
   summary if requested, or if only a few people were interested,
   send them a summary by mail.  This avoids umpteen people
   posting the same answer to the group and umpteen others
   posting "me too"s.

   If you believe someone has violated netiquette, send them a
   message by __private e-mail__, DO NOT post a follow-up to the
   news.  And be polite, they may not realise their mistake, they
   might be a beginner or may not even have been responsible for
   the "crime" - their account may have been used by someone else
   or their address forged.

   Be proud of your postings but don't post just to see your name
   in pixels.  Remember: your future employer may be reading.

   <Netiquette for Usenet Site Administrators>.

   <"net.acceptable">.

   [Jargon File]

   (1999-10-18)