E-mail Etiquette
These group guidelines for mail list etiquette are based on our experience with mail lists and our adherence to the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous:
- We do not engage in posting
that disrupts our common welfare or distracts us from our primary
purpose. See the FAQ about
"flaming".
- We do not allow group
postings of any copyrighted material for which permission to distribute
has not been obtained from the copyright owner.
- We send personal messages
such as welcomes, hugs, thank-you's, pats-on-the-back, responses to
prayer requests, and "enjoyed-your-share" comments privately -- not to
the group.
- When responding publicly, we
copy and paste only the pertinent parts of the share to which we are
responding -- not the entire share. This is especially important for
those on digest.
- We post both on and off
topic. Please use the subject line to indicate *On*- or *Off*-topic,
and if off-topic provide a subject (example -- "Off-Topic: Prayer
Request").
- We do not send attachments,
chain letters, virus warnings, solicitations, or announcements of non-
A.A. functions. We direct all mail of a business nature to the Business
List.
- If you are not subscribed to
the business list, please help us stay focused on our primary purpose,
by sending questions or concerns about how the group functions to a
member of the Steering Committee -- not to the group.
- Out of respect for
anonymity, we do not: 1) include more than this mail list address on
anything we post to the group; or 2) forward posts outside the list
without getting permission from the original sender and deleting all
identifying information.
- By the same token, when we
wish to forward something to the group, we include only the portions we
want to share, deleting all identifying information, such as e-mail
addresses, routing info, names, etc. Using copy and paste of the
portion you wish to share works best.
- All E-mail programs are
different. We try to keep our line length to no more than 80
characters. Short paragraphs with a space between are easier to read
than long paragraphs with no breaks.
- E-mail written in ALL CAPS
is difficult to read and may be interpreted as shouting. To emphasize
something, please use *asterisks* or _underscores_.
- E-mail programs should be set to send and receive in plain text -- not html.