Seven Guidelines for Effective Email Group Participation

Make the most of the forums by following these seven guidelines.

1. Be clear and concise.
2. When sending a message, include a meaningful subject line.
3. Proofread your message before sending.
4. When replying to a community message, double-check the recipient address.
5. Before sending a reply, delete extraneous portions of a previous message.
6. Do not forward junk mail!
7. Apply the golden rule to all correspondence.

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1. Be clear and concise.
   
   When you post to an email group, you are publishing to a wide audience.  If you waste your readers' time, they may discount your thoughts and resent you for your lack of consideration.  Respect other's time as you would expect them to respect your own and compose your messages accordingly with thoughtfulness and appropriate brevity.
   
   
2. When sending a message, include a meaningful subject line.
   
   Readers often scan subject lines to determine which items are relevant to them and which are not.  Help them out with a subject line that reflects the content of your message.
   
   Examples of good subject lines:

3. Proofread your message before sending.
   
   Remember that errors, typos and muddled thoughts will be multiplied by the number of group members.  Use your spell checker.
   
   
4. When replying to a community message, double-check the recipient address.
   
   If you wish to respond to the author only, make sure that the only address you're replying to is that person and not the entire group. Replies to the group such as "Yes, I agree with you completely!" create clutter without adding value.
   
   
5. Before sending a reply, delete extraneous portions of a previous message.
   
   Delete extraneous headers, trailing advertisements, and portions of the text irrelevant to your reply.  Leave only the relevant portions of the previous message as a convenient reference.
   
   
6. Do not forward junk mail!
   
   Resist the temptation to forward broadcast mailings, jokes, incredible business opportunities, general news alarms, etc.  Confine your posts to offerings directed specifically to your audience.
   
   
7. Apply the golden rule to all correspondence.

   All correspondence should be gracious and respectful of another's thoughts and opinions.  For example, if a member violates one of the above directives, feel free to respond, but do so tactfully and with discretion.