LUTHERLINK COURTESY

Computer communications take place in cyberspace, which, like other shared-space situations, requires some basic guidelines on behavior.

It is helpful to keep in mind at all times that all the members of this network are equally children of God and deserve the respect you would like to receive. Anyone who is a member of an on-line meeting is welcome to comment on appropriate topics and respond to notes written by other members. To that end, it will be helpful if your communications here fit the following conventions.

PRIVACY:

LutherLink maintains high standards for privacy and access. It has public areas and meetings as well as restricted and private areas, and person-to-person communication which is strictly private. It is easy to copy information from a note to other individuals or meetings, and the network cannot control what individuals do with mail they have received.

Sending a note to a public area is the same as publishing it in a magazine or posting it on a bulletin board. If you are sending a private note (or a note to a small, private meeting), phrase it in such a way that you would not mind seeing it posted on a bulletin board in a public area. If a note is truly confidential, it is helpful to say so in the note.

Please consider any personal note you receive confidential unless the person who wrote it gives you permission for further publication.

Please show consideration for the owner of copyrighted material. If you would like to post copyrighted material on-line, get the owner's permission first (most will be happy to supply it) and say so as you use it.

PERCEPTIONS:

LutherLink's nature helps build trust and community among users. The dynamics of this communication, however, are somewhat different from conversations, paper mail, or meetings.  Please consider the following suggestions:

Using common sense  together with your understanding of communication theory, especially listening skills, will be helpful.

Ignore spelling, capitalization, grammar and style mistakes that others may make. Do your best to spell properly yourself, but don't fret about it.

In a dialogue, give feedback to the person you are corresponding with, to indicate that you have thought carefully before giving your reply. It can be helpful to copy a small portion of their note into yours, and mark it with greater-than signs, e.g.:

> this is what you wrote to me.

Remember to delete the rest of the original note, out of respect for others' time.

There is a surprising immediacy to this medium that is different from paper communication. Some emotions, especially anger, can be amplified by the medium; others, such as irony or humor, can be misinterpreted. Please be careful.

If you are angry or otherwise feel a high emotional level while composing a note, you might want to save the note and come back to it in an hour or the next day. The content of your communication may be clouded by the energy of your emotion.

Don't let too much time elapse before responding to a note in a general meeting; if more than 100 notes have been posted in the interim, most members of the meeting will no longer recall the original note.

Including lighthearted humor helps build a sense of caring community. If you say something in a lighthearted or joking way, put the word <grin> or a sideways smilie face :-) in the note, so there will be no mistaking it. Other sideways "emoticons" and common abbreviations may be found in the meetings "SMILIE DICTIONARY" and "ABBREVIATIONS."

Though the technique may be used for emphasis, composing a whole note in ALL CAPS is a form of writing frequently interpreted as "shouting" by other users and is considered in poor taste.

If you feel that another person is being inconsiderate or rude in a meeting, it is rarely helpful to respond in kind; consider a courteous response in the meeting to that person's legitimate concerns or indicating that you have trouble understanding them, or sending a friendly, personal note to that person.

In case of repeated discourtesy, an appeal to the meeting moderator by way of personal note may be helpful.

POSTING NOTES:

Notes in general meetings are most effective if they are limited to a size that easily fits on one viewing screen (about 20 lines of 78 characters each). Notes in topical meetings are often longer. People with bifocals report it is easier to read notes that have short paragraphs (six to eight lines) separated by a blank line. Longer notes are needed from time to time, but please use them sparingly.

You may compose longer documents in your word processor, save in ASCII or DOS format, and send them to meetings as attached files or branches. *Never* send word processor or encoded files (e.g., Convene encoded files, HTML or Mime-encoded files) to public or private meetings. They may be sent to individuals if you are sure the recipients have compatible software.

There is no need to type a "memo format" into your note; your name and the date the note was posted are automatically included with your note, and personal notes may include a subject line.

If you are sending a note to a number of people, it is helpful to include the names of the people who are receiving the note.

Some software makes it possible to include automatically a signature line on each note you send. A signature longer than one or two lines can provide insight as to your personality or work, but can also be tedious to other persons who have to read it regularly.

Please don't use non-standard keyboard characters in
public meetings or if you suspect the recipient's computer screen or printer may have trouble handling them; use a description instead.

If a specific discussion in a public meeting warrants, any full member of LutherLink may start a public meeting, branching it from the public meeting and from the "LUTHERLINK" main branch. That invites all members of the network to the new public meeting. If you want regular correspondence with a number of people, you may start a private meeting, inviting only those you want included in the group.

Thanks to the Communication Office, SAC Ministry Unit, PC(USA), from whom some of the material in this document is borrowed.  Also to Nancy Curtis, Taylor Harmon, Dave Jernigan, Richard Mathison, Ted Steege, Herb Strom, Steven P. Tibbets and Steven R.P. Weston, who made cogent and appropriate contributions.

Produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Department for Communication, July 1994.