ONE-TO-MANY COMMUNICATIONS – EMAIL GROUPS & LISTS AND NEWSGROUPS
 
The following is very loosely adapted from http://www.dtcc.edu/cs/rfc1855.html
  and suggests some guidelines for email groups (mailing lists) and newsgroups.

Guidelines for messaging to groups using Yahoo groups, majordomo, listserv or Usenet.

  15 March 2009
GENERAL GUIDELINES
  • BE CAREFUL about what you write and to whom you send it.
    • Your words may be stored for a very long time in a place to which many people have access and there are many irritable persons on line.
    • Consider that a large audience will see your posts. That may include your present or your next boss, your children, or your divorced spouse.
    • Remember too, that mailing lists and Newsgroups are frequently archived and publicly available.
  • DO NOT POST ANY OF THE FOLLOWING to email groups or newsgroups:
    • Your surname, addresses, or phone numbers.  If desired, address that information to the individual who needs the information.
  • ASSUME THAT INDIVIDUALS SPEAK ONLY FOR THEMSELVES.
    • Assume what they say does not represent their organization (unless stated explicitly), and that the sender may state “facts” that may not be so.
  • DON’T SEND LARGE FILES to email groups or lists if the information is readily available on the internet.
    • Instead, provide the web address, Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for the information).
  • DO NOT USE  "DELIVERY RECEIPTS", or "NON-DELIVERY NOTICES".  or  "VACATION PROGRAMS".
      • They are invasive when sent to mailing lists and groups, and some people consider delivery receipts an invasion of privacy.
WARNINGS
  • EVERYTHING YOU POST is publicly accessible.
  • NOBODY CAN “UNSEND” A MESSAGE.
    • Once you have sent a message, it's not possible for it to be retrieved. 
    • This means you must make sure you really want the message to go as written and as addressed.
  • BEFORE OPENING A MESSAGE, examine the senders address, name and subect to see if legitimate.
    • Delete undesirable messages without opening.
    • Consider setting a block in software to not see future objectionable messages from that source or on that subject.
  • DON’T OPEN ANY ATTACHMENTS, if you haven't requested the information from the sender.
  • DON’T SET OFF A “FLAME WAR”.
    • Neither post nor respond to inflammatory message content.
    • Should your message offend someone, apologize to the offended party either privately or publicly as appropriate.
  • DO NOT POST PRODUCT INFORMATION in which you or people close to you have a financial interest.
    • Advertising is banned on most email groups and newsgroups. 
    • Unsolicited advertising which is completely off-topic will likely result in you receiving some negative responses.
  • DO NOT POST MESSAGES with offensive content to the group
    • You may be banned if you should post messages that are forged or have spoofed  email addresses  or are offensive to others.
    • Sexually and racially harassing messages are illegal.
    • There is software available to filter messages you find objectionable.
    • Contact the group owner/moderator about persons posting messages that cross the line.
MANNERS
  • MESSAGES SHOULD BE CONSISTENT WITH THE PURPOSES OF THE GROUP OR LIST.
  • DON’T POST GROUP MESSAGES THAT COMMENT NEGATIVELY ABOUT MEMBERS
    • A message that corrects some factual error may be welcome if composed politely.
  • ADDRESS TO THE MINIMUM NUMBERS OF ADDRESSEES that will include the intended recipients.
  • DON'T POST TO THE GROUP, GRATUITOUS REPLIES  to other's postings, such as "attaboys", "You poor thing", "I feel your pain", "So sorry", etc.
    • Only if the message you compose contains generally useful information, should you address to a group.
    • Messages intended for one person are best directed to that individual member.
    • Don't use a posting from a group member as an excuse to relate all your woes.
  • FOCUS ON ISSUES AND FACTS.  Don't send messages that involve personalities or behaviors that might be upsetting.
  • BE BRIEF AND TO THE POINT AND COVER ONLY ONE SUBJECT.
    • Don't wander off-topic; don't ramble.
    • Don't send mail or post messages solely to point out other people's errors in typing or spelling.
      • That more than any other behavior marks you as a thoughtless communicator.
  • DO NOT USE "TEXT MESSAGING SHORTCUTS" as they retard reading and understanding.
  • SEND AN APOLOGY if you have offended someone.
    • If you accidentally sent a personal message to an entire list or email group or find you've offended someone, send an appropriate apology to the individual or group as appropriate.
  • DO NOT SET A BOT (robot) TO SEND AN "AFK" (away from keyboard) MESSAGE.
      • A canned message saying you're out of the office or away is likely to irritate to others.
  • DO NOT REPEAT GROUP MESSAGE CONTENT to persons outside the group without the permission of the originator.
  • POST ONLY A SUMMARY of the results if you conduct a poll of a group.
    • When doing so, truly summarize rather than send an accumulation of the many messages you have received from many members.
COMPOSING
  • KNOW AS MUCH AS YOU CAN ABOUT THE PURPOSES  OF THE GROUP OR LIST OR NEWSGROUP.
    • Communicating with many people via one mail message or post has the possibility of offending or upsetting many people.
  • READ BOTH EMAIL GROUPS AND NEWSGROUPS FOR A TIME BEFORE POSTING.
    • This helps you to get an understanding of the culture of the group.
  • HAVE AN IDENTITY AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR MESSAGE - Use only a nickname or first name or email address.
    • Use this identity at the bottom of your message and before quoted previous messages.
    • This will guarantee that any peculiarities of mailers or news readers which strip header information will not delete the only reference in the message of how people may reach you.
  • CONSIDER USING A UNIQUE EMAIL ADDRESS TO PUBLIC GROUPS.
    • Keep your personal email address from becoming public so that undesirables won’t intrude on your privacy.
  • AVOID LONG MESSAGES.
    • Both mail and newsgroups take system and internet resources.
    • Supply web addresses to convey information if available and appropriate.
  • DON'T USE HTML COMPOSITION as many mail programs don't display those correctly.
  • DON’T USE ATTACHMENTS TO EMAIL GROUPS, LISTS AND NEWSGROUPS.
    • The mail and newsgroup programs generally will strip attachments before the message is posted.
  • DON’T POST SEXUAL OR OTHER POSSIBLY ILLEGAL CONTENT IN PUBLIC GROUPS.
    • Minors and or law enforcement personnel might view your message contents.
  • BE CAREFUL ABOUT COMPOSING MESSAGES WITH GRAPHIC MATERIAL OR MONOSPACE FONTS.
    • These will display differently (or not display) on different systems, and with different email programs.
  • DELETE PREVIOUS MULTIPLE OR LONG MESSAGES when sending a reply to a posting.
    • If you are sending a reply to a message or a posting, SUMMARIZE the original AT THE BOTTOM of your message, or COPY and PASTE the key points TO THE BOTTOM of your message.
    • That way readers don’t have to plow through all the old stuff before getting to your reply.
ADDRESSING
  • MAKE SURE THE SUBJECT LINE IS APPROPRIATE.
    • If the message you compose is on a different subject than the one to which you are responding, change it at the start rather than wait.  Once sent, the message may have an incorrect subject.
  • BE CAREFUL ABOUT USING “REPLY” when you respond to postings and messages.
    • Frequently replies are mistakenly sent back to the address which originated the post.  In most cases, that is the address of the group  or list. 
    • If you use the “REPLY” option, you may accidentally send an intended personal message to a great many people, embarrassing all involved.   
    • Instead use “COMPOSE” to start a new message. 
      • Highlight the sender’s address in the posted message that you are responding to, then use cntrl C to copy and cntrl V to paste the address of the sender into the “TO” message you are composing.
      • If appropriate, highlight and copy the subject to the message you are composing.
  • AVOID MULTIPLE ADDRESSES using "To" or "CC".
    • When sending a message to more than one mailing list or group, especially if the  are closely related, use "BC".
    •  Address multiple groups/lists only if the message is pertinent to all the several addressed groups/lists.
  • SEND “SUBSCRIBE” AND “UNSUBSCRIBE” MESSAGES TO THE PROPER ADDRESS.
    • Group members cannot unsubscribe you.
    • It is your responsibility to learn how the groups work, and to send the correct mail to the correct place. 
    • Be sure you know the conventions used by the groups/lists to which you subscribe. 
    • Newsgroups can be unsubscribed using your mail program.
    • Save the "Subscribed" notice.  These usually tell how to "unsubscribe".
COMPLAINTS
  • DON’T AIR COMPLAINTS TO THE OFFENDING PARTY.
    • Address complaints of on-going misbehavior to the owner of the group.
    • Request that the offending party be informed of the limits of good behavior.
    • The owner/moderator may then contact the offensive party to either request they change their behavior or be banned.  
    • Owner/moderator email addresses are usually posted on the group web page.