| Bar Bulletin |
March,
2003 |
| Technology Talk |
|
Building a Better
Online Community:
Playing Nice in the Cyberspace Sandbox
By Pat Yevics
This month’s Tech Talk
will address the value of Email Lists and the proper use and rules of
Email Lists and e-mail. I am compelled to do this by some (in the
big-picture scheme of things) minor disturbances on one of the MSBA
Email Lists.
In the interest of
fairness, there are a few facts you need to know before going further: 1)
I love e-mail and Email Lists, 2) I think e-mail is a tool as indispensable
to the practice of law as the telephone, 3) I think that using Email Lists
can be a very helpful and efficient method for getting answers and sharing
information and 4) I get about 200 e-mail messages a day, many of which
are junk mail.
There are a number of
different types of electronic discussion methods, but the MSBA currently
offers its sections the ability to create open Email Lists. This allows
members who are subscribed to the list the opportunity to type in one
address and send the message/question to everyone on the list. The
purposes of the Email Lists are to give section members the opportunity to
quickly get answers to questions and to share information that other
section members would find helpful.
In order to get the
best results from using these lists, there are some rules that you need to
understand and use. Many of the lists have been valuable to many sections
and there have been few problems. Like any group, electronic or otherwise,
each list has its own “personality.”
The rules I will list
are only a few that will help you and the people with whom you communicate
live more kindly and courteously in virtual reality. For you history
buffs, netiquette was started at a Xerox facility called PARC – Palo Alto
Research
Center – in the 1970s. They developed a system of e-mail etiquette to help
employees learn to handle the new e-mail system. It was called the
Electronic Briefing Blurb. In 1973, students at Carnegie Mellon, the first
university to connect to the Internet using the TCP/IP protocol, wanted to
be able to communicate emotions and subtle humor on paper, and so the
emoticon was invented. Emoticons are “smileys” used at the end of
sentences to indicate when a statement is meant to be funny and not
offensive. The most recognized emoticon (which means smiling) is :-).
Rules
(Listed in no particular order.)
- When you participate
in a Email List, it is not always necessary to send a reply to the entire
list. For MSBA lists, the REPLY TO: default is the author of the
original message. If you hit REPLY TO:, it will only go to the person
who sent the message. If you think the reply would be helpful and useful
to the entire list, you must hit REPLY TO ALL:.
- Do not send a reply
that just says “Me, too” or some other short response. Too many
Email Lists are clogged by hundreds of “Me, too”s.
- Watch the subject
line carefully. If a subject starts to go off the topic, those replying
should indicate that in the subject header. This will allow others to
delete messages off topic. It may look like: Subject: Expert Witness –
Off Topic. This indicates the subject matter is no longer Expert
Witnesses. It is even better to change the Subject Line to better
reflect the topic that is being discussed. This only takes a minute and
saves much aggravation for other members on the list.
- If you are
responding to a post on a Email List, trim some of the original message.
- Do not forward jokes
or any other message because you have no idea who will eventually
receive it.
- The Internet allows
for very easy forwarding and sending of information. If you would not
send the jokes or message on your firm’s letterhead, then do not forward
it.
- Do not send anything
via e-mail you do not want to see in public. This should be a rule that
you never break. Never.
- If you are replying
to an e-mail or other posting, it is helpful to put the word REPLY in
the Subject box.
- Do not send messages
without something in the Subject box.
- Do not use capitals;
IT MEANS YOU ARE SHOUTING.
- Keep in mind that
not everyone on the list is at the same professional level as you. There
may be new attorneys who are looking for some assistance from
experienced practitioners. That is one of the advantages of the list. If
you can help with an answer, please do so.
- The lists are not
a substitute for your own research and work. No one should be asking
questions that can be easily answered by simple research. You should
always do some research before posting a question.
- Remember that
sarcasm and humor can often be lost in writing. What you might have
understood as being a joke or humorous in person is completely lost in
e-mail. If you are concerned that something might be misunderstood,
please use some of the common emoticons to let people know what you
mean. (For a simple list of emoticons and acronyms, go to
www.pb.org/emoticon.html.)
- Do not “flame”
people on Email Lists; flaming means insulting people.
- Keep messages short
and to the point. If you are going to post a long reply, or in some
cases a long rant, please indicate that in the subject header. Subject:
Expert Witnesses - Long Reply.
- Many Email Lists do
not allow members to send attachments for fear of spreading viruses. If
a Email List does allow attachments, you should not send an attachment
without first informing the list. (MSBA open Email Lists do not allow
attachments to be sent via the lists.)
- Your signature
should be at the bottom of all your e-mails and your signature should be
short. The rule was 4 lines but that may be a little arbitrary. It
should not be more that six or eight lines.
- If you would like
additional information about netiquette, Arlene Rinaldi has been the
keeper of the rules for sometime. You can see her list of rules at
www.fau.edu/netiquette.
There are also Internet Use Guidelines:
www.unl.edu/websat/use.html.
Managing the Messages or Don’t Shoot the Messenger
Some prefer not to
participate in lists, complaining of the large number of messages. I think
that is short-sighted. The value of the lists far outweighs the
inconvenience. There are some ways that you can manage the messages so
that they are not an intrusion.
The easiest way to
manage messages from lists and other non-critical client-elated messages
is to set up folders for your Email Lists or other topics and have the
messages sent directly (filtered) to those folders so they do not clutter
your in-box. You can then read them when you choose. Messages can be
filtered to go into any folder even the delete folder. You can filter
messages based upon the sender or any other criteria.
Outlook
and most other e-mail packages allow you to set up folders. I have 30
folders set up. Although most of my messages come directly to my inbox, I
sometimes want to save messages for a short period of time. Rather than
keep them in my inbox, I put them in the appropriate folder just as I
would with paper mail. You can set up Folders in Outlook by going
to File, New, Folder and then give it a name. You can even create
sub-folders. You can then set up folders for your Email Lists and have those
messages sent directly to those folders. In Outlook, this can be
done by going to Tools, Rules Wizard. In Rules Wizard, specify that you
want all messages sent to you from MSBARealProperty (or whatever the name
is) sent directly to the folder that you created. When a message from
MSBARealProperty comes to your e-mail, it will be rerouted to that folder.
If you receive junk
mail from the same source but cannot get off the list, you can even have
those messages sent directly to your Delete Folder.
The other method for
managing Email Lists is to use another e-mail address just for Email Lists.
This will allow you to keep them separate from your client work. You
should be able to access it from your office.
We hope that all of our
members will use the lists to help them connect with others, get answers
to questions, share information and help new practitioners. We are working
on many ways to improve the process, and are looking into creating forums
that will allow extended discussions. If you have suggestions on how we
can improve the lists, please forward them to Pat Yevics at
pyevics@msba.org. Also, if you are having difficulty with someone on a particular list,
please contact me directly. I can be reached by phone at (800) 492-1964,
ext. 3039, or by e-mail at
pyevics@msba.org. We are here to help you.
