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".
- Sometimes, new members can be overwhelmed by the volume of e-mails coming through the list. If you experience this, you might find it helpful to create and use a separate email address to reduce the confusion of mixing GROW mail with your primary email address. There are many services that offer free e-mail (just search for "free e-mail accounts" on the web). Be sure to notify our Listkeeper at grow-owner@oso-aa.org if you change your address. You might also want to check out the Digest version containing the day's posts in a single e-mail (contact our Listkeeper to get the Digest).
- 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, solicitations, virus alerts or announcements of non A.A. functions. We do not include URLs to sites outside GROW except links to the AA, Grapevine, and GROW websites.
- 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_.