Conferencing and Netiquette

As part of the first module we were detailed to read an article “Netiquette, or the social conventions of computer conferencing” by Gary Alexander who works at the Open University (OU) as a lecturer, and author. Netiquette is a guide to how we should behave in online discussions etc.... Using the following e-mail exchange, I want to demonstrate some of the points raised in the article.

I have also been reading Groups that Work and would like to contribute what I consider to be important points in the paper.
However not forgetting the group task which is to form a group consensus about important points in the papers I have put them into a Word file called Notes on Groups that Work V1.1
This file contains points already made by Helga and some of my own, please feel free to download this file , read it then give the group some feedback. There are still plenty of points in this paper which can be added to the list and when we have completed the list we will then be able to "as a group" discuss which of these points are actually important enough to stay in the completed file for Groups that Work. I will volunteer to read all messages concerning new points for groups that work and update this list every evening until we decide its time to battle it out and decide which points go and which stay.
Its time to start communicating now, we only have 11 more days until TMA01 has to be submitted and none of us can complete it without first completing the group task, so start sending in more points to add to the file, or somebody start up a new file "Notes on The Theory of Group Formation" for example.

This is a long message and not all of you will agree with everything I am suggesting, if you have any better ideas on how we could achieve our group task then please send your opinions or criticisms, I feel that the time for all this politeness is over, we will have to agree to disagree sometime so why not start now. Either send more points on groups that work to add to the file or send some constructive criticism about this message and my ideas for getting things moving.
realise I will be lynched in the storming for this message but if it works then it was worth it. I have no ambition to try and emerge as a leader, nor do I think we need one, but its time somebody tried getting the ball rolling, were all in the same boat here and to get it moving we all have to start paddling if we dont want to end up in s**t creek. I dont think its any use waiting for Bob to tell us exactly what to do because I dont think thats his job, we are the group and we are the ones who have to make it work

I believe that this message is a good example of one of the principles of Netiquette ‘avoid flaming spirals’, which means anyone who reads this message, could easily take offence to it and reply angrily. And that could possibly disrupt a discussion to the point that others are not willing to participate anymore.

Interesting point concerning politeness AL, but just how polite are we expected to be?

Good question Andrew, I agree with some of your ideas. However, I feel with the use of common sense this method of thanking and acknowledging people works. And there is research to prove it works, just take a look at this first PCP (Practical Communications Principles) in the article "Netiquette, or the social conventions of computer conferencing" by Gary Alexander:

PCP 1: Thank, acknowledge and support people freely I liked your comment in... " "I agree with so and sos idea that... " "Thanks Sarah for that contribution. I got a lot out of it." "Welcome to the conference, Bill."

In a computer conference you cannot see the other people nod their heads, smile, or otherwise indicate that they have heard what you said. If you don't receive an acknowledgement of a message, you may feel ignored, even when others have appreciated your contribution. This principle is particularly important when a group is set up as a support group, as it maintains the relationship necessary for people to feel supported. People know that they have been appreciated and are encouraged to contribute further. But... before acknowledging, check that there aren't already several similar messages! You don't want your conference clogged with messages saying 'Thanks!'.

This exchange demonstrates in my opinion an important point from the Netiquette article:

PCP 2 Acknowledge before differing

Both students here have tried to appreciate and understand each other’s views seriously even though they might not have had the same opinion on the subject. Therefore, they are able to discuss the subject without any risk of disrupting the discussion.

you have to put in the full path, or in other words, where exactly you saved your assignment work on your hard disk. Alternatively, you can click the browse button on the ETMA web site and browse to the exact location of your assignment file.

The last e-mail exchange here demonstrates part of:

PCP 1: Thank, acknowledge and support people freely.

Its very easy to get stuck or lost on any assignment on the course and so at times people need some help and support so that they can continue with their work. Above one of the students had a problem uploading his work; he received help from another student and then thanked him for it.