Technical and Professional Communication

Netiquette Policy

The term "netiquette" refers to the awareness of the need for a certain code of behavior (etiquette) in electronic environments (the net) ... Net + Etiquette = netiquette. Netiquette, while a general term, is complex at specific levels because there are so many different kinds of electronic environments, and so many different situations in which we may find ourselves in those environments.

Since this class will be focusing on areas where electronic communication play a key, if as yet undefined role in technical and professional communication, it is our responsibility to be aware of our textual presence as it reflects upon our professional responsibilities, to ourselves and to our colleagues and customers.

As Greg Smith, Systems Integrator at Bucknell University has written,

Netiquette is often forgotten in our dealings on the Internet. We often forget something very important when we're using our e-mail and network news tools: There are real people on the other end of our electronic correspondence. Most of us would never dream of insulting someone in a telephone conversation. We also typically follow the sound advice of never writing a letter while we're angry. Unfortunately, we haven't all extrapolated those practices of etiquette to our computerized communications media.

Most netiquette is simple common sense. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has endorsed a simple nine-point list called A Netiquette Primer, and while you should read this, it also only begins to scratch the surface of what the issues at hand may be.

Simply put, the rules of netiquette outlined by the NCTE (and below in the famous "Ten Commandments for Computer Ethics") are those you should know and understand as an individual "netizen" ... a citizen of cyberspace. In this class, however, you also represent  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in those public spaces, and you should keep in mind that those spaces are, practically speaking, an extension of the classroom itself.

If you are engaging electronic environments as a member of the class  then you are subject to the same expectations and rules of conduct any teacher or administrator might expect of you in a face-to-face (f2f) environment. "Flaming" is a reality in e-space just as arguments and disagreements are a reality in the f2f classroom; but there are limits.

If your conduct in electronic space is deemed unbecoming the professionalism expected of Rensselaer students, you will be removed first from the specific learning environment; second, as warrants, from the class as a whole; and upon repeated offenses, as necessary, referred to Institute-wide disciplinary action.

1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.
2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.
3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files.
4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
6. Thou shalt not use or copy software for which you have not paid.
7. Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization.
8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you write.
10. Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect.