Teach Your Kids Online Etiquette

We are teaching our kids of proper behaviour in the society. At least, we are trying to do our best to teach them. Equally important to explain them the main rules of the online etiquette - so called "netiquette". There is a collection of the simple recommendations of what your children should avoid in online communication:

• Posting stolen or cracked software is not recommended. This is plainly illegal and can be considered as a criminal offence.
• Emailing anything that is part of a pyramid scheme. These are also illegal, and they work perfectly just for their creators. For everybody else - it is a lost battle, no matter what you read in the spam promises.
• Giving out your own or other people’s phone numbers or personal information. Use alternative (or disposable) email addresses and secondary free Internet phone numbers, when giving away this information is mandatory.
• Emailing to a large group of people and revealing their email addresses to all the recipients. While sending message to multiple recipients, it is recommended to put their addresses in the BCC field. That will also prevent the private responses to be delivered to the entire group.
• Posting anything without acknowledging the source. It is considered polite and advisable to show where the item came from with a link or short sentence, if the information is available.
• Formatting emails with colored text/background. They are difficult to read without converting them.
• Typing your messages or emails in all capital letters. “Shouting” or “screaming” in caps is rude.
• Emailing very large files without letting the other person know. Getting a large file will slow things down for users, fill up their mailbox and prevent them from receiving something that may be more important. In some cases, it might completely block the mail server.
• Emailing alerts about viruses that you haven’t verified are real. Make sure the virus isn’t a hoax before you tell everyone you know.
• Sending an attachment that might be infected with a virus or Trojan. Scan for viruses regularly and keep your software up-to-date.
• Emailing with long subject lines. Use the body of the email for your message and the subject line for a brief description.
• Emailing with no subject line at all. This is a Spammer tactic. A subject line gives someone a little information before they read the main text. It also helps people sort and organize their emails. Besides, in most cases, your email with no subject will go directly to the bulk mail or spam folder.

To add personality and humor to your messages, use smileys, also known as emoticons, expressions you create from the characters on your keyboard. It just like adding tones to your online voice. A few popular ones include:
:-) Happy :-( Sad :-o Surprised :-@ Screaming :-I Indifferent :-e Disappointed :-< Mad :-D Laughing ;-) Winking