Respect others and their opinions. Your colleagues come from various backgrounds as they come together. It is important to respect their feelings and opinions though they may differ from your own.
Consider others’ privacy. Be wary of your discussion topics and how private or open they may be. Keep in mind that all private messaging of any form is considered copyrighted by the original author.
Pick the right tone. Since we depend on written communication in ESCnet, it is especially important to choose the right words to get your meaning across. For example, sarcasm is harder to detect when you read the words rather than hearing them.
Be forgiving. If someone states something that you find offensive, mention this directly to that person and notify our system administrators. Remember that the person contributing to the discussion might be new to this form of communication.
Think before you hit the send button. Think carefully about the content of your messages and posts before contributing them. Once sent to the group or the recipient, there is no taking it back. Grammar and spelling errors reflect on you, and your audience might not be able to decode misspelled words or poorly constructed sentences.
Brevity is best. Be as concise as possible when contributing anywhere in ESCnet. Your points might me missed if hidden in a flood of text.
Stick to the point. Contributions to a discussion should stick to the subject deemed important by the group admin or discussion creator. Don’t waste others' time by going off on irrelevant tangents.
Do not type in all caps. Typing in caps is considered shouting or screaming online. Various studies on the topic reflect that it is more difficult and takes longer to read text that is typed in all caps.
Avoid frivolous email. Don’t forward jokes, "chain letters" or unimportant posts to colleagues in ESCnet without their permission. Not only does it fill up their screens, but it may offend people who do not share the same sense of humor.
" * Rule 1: Remember the Human * Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life * Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace * Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth * Rule 5: Make yourself look good online * Rule 6: Share expert knowledge * Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under control * Rule 8: Respect other people's privacy * Rule 9: Don't abuse your power * Rule 10: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes"
Being on the Internet is fun, when you are respected as a person, and an individual. There are many people that dont feel safe on the internet, and these ruls will help make the internet a better place.
