• Phrase your postings politely. Cursing is frowned upon (except in designated areas like the USENET newsgroup alt.tasteless). If you want to express a strong opinion, cute euphemisms and made-up expletives are usually acceptable.
• Make sure your postings are correct. This is particularly important with information about serious topics -- for example, an illness. Information -- whether true or false -- spreads rapidly through cyberspace. You wouldn't want to be responsible for making people sicker than they already were.
• Don't assume that posted information is correct, and don't spread it around if you have any questions at all about it.
• Be careful about posting late at night or any time you're tired, sick, or having a terrible day. Your judgment may not be at its best. When in doubt, hold off until you feel better.

Developing time-saving habits

Many of the basic Netiquette rules for discussion groups fall under Rule 4, Respect other people's time. Here they are:

• When posting to a discussion group, try not to ask stupid questions. I'm familiar with the belief that "there's no such thing as a stupid question." On the net, that's not necessarily the case. A stupid question is one that you could have found the answer to yourself with a little research, or one that you're asking in the wrong place. If you do the basic research suggested here (i.e., read the FAQ) and don't find the answer to your question, and you have reason to believe that you're looking for the answer in the right place, go ahead and ask. Fortunately, most network surfers are kindly folks who will be happy to help you out, even if your question is considered stupid. But it's only polite not to take advantage of their time if you don't have to. So read the FAQ. If your question is answered there, you didn't waste anyone's time either reading or

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