Saying 'hi' in cyberspace

By PETER SINCLAIR

In terms of traditional politeness, e-mail falls somewhere between a letter and a shout.

Things may seem fairly free and easy when "Hi" and "Bye" replace "Dear Sir" and "yours faithfully" but e-mail has a few rules of its own, not all of them immediately obvious.

Human communication is about 90 per cent body language, 8 per cent tone of voice, and 2 per cent what you actually say.

With e-mail, you lose the first 98 per cent. So, for those of you taking your first steps in cyberspace, here's a short, sharp course in E-mail Etiquette:

* The whole point of e-mail is brevity - don't take offence at it. There's nothing wrong with sending a long newsy e-mail, just don't necessarily expect one back.

* Likewise, very large or numerous file-attachments - especially graphics - can take ages to download over slower modems. Always ask first.

* DON'T YELL! It's okay to emphasise a few words in capitals, but never leave your caps lock on - it's really rude.

* Don't be an e-pest - are you sure all 40 of your friends are going to find that "10 reasons why men are smarter than women" joke equally amusing?

* Cyberspace is hoax heaven, so never forward a message unless you know it to be true - "virus alerts," chain letters and petitions are a waste of everyone's time and bandwidth.

* Keep your friends' e-mail addresses as private as an unlisted phone number - it's easy to get on a spammer's list, hard to get off it.

* Most important: because e-mail is such an impulsive medium, always look both ways before you hit "Send." Did you really mean to say that?