In life, it is the moral responsibility for the elder to teach 
the younger, or for the experienced to teach the inexperienced. 
In internet life, the same moral responsibility applies in 
regards to correct use of email.

One large difference is that, in internet life, it is very often 
the younger who are the experienced. The current waves of growth 
in internet usage, the new users, are largely from the older 
generations.

Accordingly, it becomes the responsibility of the experienced 
users to educate and train newer users in the correct usage of 
email. One simple way of imparting this education to lesser 
experienced internet users is to politely refer them to this 
article, either on the page you are currently reading or at 
http://BestPrac.Org/articles/netiquette.htm

The internet life carries it's own versions of courtesy, privacy 
and security issues that all users need to know. Hence a new word
has entered the vocabulary - Netiquette. (Internet etiquette.)

For example:

* In internet and email culture, ALL CAPITALS IS AKIN TO 
  SHOUTING and is universally seen as rude and impolite.

* New email users often forget to include a brief "Subject" 
  line on their emails, or do not understand the importance of 
  it. Ordinary postal service "snail-mail" does not ordinarily 
  require a heading about the contents of the letter on the 
  outside of the envelope - though most posted periodicals and 
  many commercial accounts nowadays do identify the contents or 
  level of importance on the outside of the envelope. Email, 
  however, operates very differently from snail-mail. Never 
  omit a subject line, and keep your subject line brief and 
  relevant. Without a subject line, your email will probably 
  be seen as yet another junk email and be deleted unread by 
  the intended recipient. More commonly, it may not even reach 
  the recipient at all. Many ISPs filter suspicious looking 
  emails and delete them without delivery. A blank subject line 
  to an email filter is like waving a red rag in front of a bull.

* Never send emails to people you do not know without their 
  express permission. Only send email to people who you know, 
  or who have clearly indicated that they want to receive 
  correspondence from you. Violation of this act of Netiquette 
  can land you in all sorts of trouble. You will be labelled as 
  a spammer. In some states or countries, you risk being charged 
  with criminal or cival violations of the law for sending 
  unsolicited email. Even in countries or states where there is 
  no specific law prohibiting unsolicited email, it is regarded 
  as bad manners and offensive. If you check with your ISP, you 
  will almost always find that they reserve the right to 
  terminate your internet connection if they receive complaints 
  about you for sending unsolicited email.

* Even when sending email to people that you do know, only send 
  them what they are likely to want. Not everyone you know wants 
  jokes or other "chain email" forwarded to them. Not everyone 
  shares your sense of humour or has the time while connected 
  at work to be reading frivolous emails. If you like forwarding 
  jokes or other "chain emails" to your friends, check with them 
  first to be sure they are happy to receive them.

* Think before you type. Type, then think again. Unlike 
  face-to-face or voice-to-voice communications, the easily and 
  quickly typed email can all too easily be a source for 
  expressing your feelings in the bluntest of ways. Similarly, 
  the hastily written word may lack feelings and not express the 
  emotions that can be sensed with eye contact or voice 
  modulation in other forms of communications. It is too easy 
  to forget that there is a human at the other end - not just 
  a computer. You can very easily damage your own reputation 
  and destroy friendships with thoughtless emails. Once an 
  email is sent, you cannot retrieve it. The damage is done.


While to the experienced user all of the above is simply common 
sense, as the old saying goes "Common sense is not really all 
that common." These basics are not innate within the human sole. 
Newcomers need to be taught.

When to use To:, CC: or BCC:

Another vital area of appropriate email usage goes beyond merely 
being courteous in your communications - the correct use of To: 
or CC: or BCC when adding recipients to the email your are 
sending.

All popular email software and all web-email accounts give you 
a choice of these three different ways to add a recipient for 
your email. (Sometimes you might need to check your software 
menu and enable BCC as a visible option. It is not a visible 
option by default in all email software, unfortunately.) Your 
choice has vital privacy and security implications, so it is 
important to know which to use and when.  While "To:" is self 
explanatory, a brief definition and history of CC: and BCC:  
will help you understand their correct usage.

CC: is a term from old fashioned typists. It stands for "Carbon 
Copy". In days of old, prior to photocopiers or word processors 
with laser printers, copies of letters were made by inserting 
two sheets of typing with a sheet of carbon paper in between 
into the typewriter. When a secretary typed a letter that was 
meant for one person though another person (other other people) 
was to receive a copy, and the first person was to be informed 
that a copy was being sent to another person, the typist would 
add a line under the signature at the end of the letter, along 
the lines of:

 CC: Joe Bloggs.
     Jane Smith.

This convention alerted to direct recipient to the fact that 
the letter had also been sent to other specific people.

If you did not want the direct recipient to know that copies 
were sent to other people, you'd simply not include a CC: 
line at the end of the letter.

BCC: stands for "Blind Carbon Copy". It is the electronic 
equivalent of sending a letter to multiple people without a 
CC: line. It means that people receive the email without any 
trace of who else is also receiving it being revealed.

Given those definitions, there are simple guidelines as to when 
you should use To:, CC: or BCC: in the emails that you send:

* If your email is being sent to just one person or email 
  address, place it in the "To:" section.

* If your email is being sent to more than one recipient and all 
  the recipients truly need to know who else is receiving it, 
  put all the addresses in the CC: section.

* If your email is being sent to more than one recipient but 
  there is no urgent reason for all the recipients to know the 
  names and email addresses of everyone else to whom it is 
  being sent, put all the addresses in the BCC: section.

(Some email software requires at least one address to be placed 
in the To: section. If yours insists on this when you are trying 
to send a CC or BCC email, put your own email address in the To: 
section.)

Understanding these basic principles of email usage has many 
benefits. It preserves the privacy of your contacts. It prevents 
lists of names and email addresses being sent to strangers when 
someone you send an email then forwards it to others. It helps 
to prevent viruses, worms and trojans being accidentally spread 
by your friends with out-of-date antivirus programs.

Most of all, it shows the people with whom you communicate that 
you are sensible and responsible in your online behaviour. It 
shows that you take their privacy and security seriously. It 
builds trust in your communications.