ES - "Nettiquette"

[Paul Mitchell]

We have seen a very large increase in traffic on the Elfsea
list, of late.  I know I'm not the only one noticing this.

For those of us who are newer to the intricacies of e-mail
communication, the SCA, or both, I'd like to give a few 
extra "dos" and "don'ts" that should serve to make your 
postings more welcome in the many mailboxes it will appear 
in.

DO:  Quote some of any post you're replying to, so people
will know what it is you're answering.

DON'T:  Quote all of it, unless you really need to address
_everything_ that was said in the previous post.

DO:  Delete all that stuff that the majordomo server adds
to the bottoms of the messages, so that it doesn't stack
up.

DON'T:  Reply to a message if you have nothing to add.
"Me, too!" as your entire message text is a symptom that
you need to spend less time in front of your computer,
and go back to making the next costume or armor piece.
This is particularly annoying if you've also quoted the
entire message text.

DO:  Keep in mind that the SCA isn't an on-line
organization.  It exists at meetings, fighter 
practices, tourneys, demos, and many other activities.  
We don't pretend so much as we _do_.  If you're on 
this list and haven't made it out to anything yet, 
come out to Randol Mill Park tomorrow afternoon and 
meet some of us.  This list is to supplement our usual 
communication channels, (phones, meetings, newletters), 
_not_ replace them.

DON'T:  Use capitals as emphasis.  This is viewed as
"shouting", and is pretty annoying.  Many of us use
the "underscore" key for emphasis, which is _much_
easier to read.

DO:  Subscribe to the _Elfsea Scroll_, so you don't
have to ask questions about guild meetings.  If you
haven't gotten your subscription yet, I post most
of the schedule info from the Scroll on the baronial
website at <http://www.uta.edu/student_orgs/sca>,
and you can refer to it there; there're contact names
attached to the information.

DON'T:  Post to the list anything that you should
send privately to just one person.

DO:  Check on this list first before posting to
the Ansteorra list if you're looking for resources.
If you can find it locally, it'll be that much more
convenient than if you post to the kingdom list and
someone in Beaumont helps you.

DON'T:  Apologize on the list if you've been guilty
of violating some of these things.  Just amend your
ways, and go on.

DO:  Feel free to contact me if you don't know how
to do any of these things.

I am very proud of the excellent resource that we
have all made the Elfsea list into, and I look
forward to its continued usefullness as time goes
on.

- Galen of Bristol
Listadmin
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