Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

netiquette
     
         /net'ee-ket/ or /net'i-ket/ Network
        etiquette.
     
        The conventions of politeness recognised on {Usenet} and in
        {mailing list}s, such as not (cross-)posting to inappropriate
        groups and refraining from commercial advertising outside the
        biz groups.
     
        The most important rule of netiquette is "Think before you
        post".  If what you intend to post will not make a positive
        contribution to the newsgroup and be of interest to several
        readers, don't post it!  Personal messages to one or two
        individuals should not be posted to newsgroups, use private
        e-mail instead.
     
        When following up an article, quote the minimum necessary to
        give some context to your reply and be careful to attribute
        the quote to the right person.  If the article you are
        responding to was posted to several groups, edit the
        distribution ("Newsgroups:") header to contain only those
        groups which are appropriate to your reply, especially if the
        original message was posted to one or more inappropriate
        groups in the first place.
     
        Re-read and edit your posting carefully before you post.
        Check the spelling and grammar.  Keep your lines to less than
        70 characters.  Don't post test messages (except to test
        groups) - wait until you have something to say.  When posting
        humorous or sarcastic comments, it is conventional to append
        a {smiley}, but don't overuse them.
     
        Before asking a question, read the messages already in the
        group and read the group's {FAQ} if it has one.  When you do
        post a question, follow it with "please reply by mail and I
        will post a summary if requested" and make sure you DO post a
        summary if requested, or if only a few people were interested,
        send them a summary by mail.  This avoids umpteen people
        posting the same answer to the group and umpteen others
        posting "me too"s.
     
        If you believe someone has violated netiquette, send them a
        message by _private e-mail_, DO NOT post a follow-up to the
        news.  And be polite, they may not realise their mistake, they
        might be a beginner or may not even have been responsible for
        the "crime" - their account may have been used by someone else
        or their address forged.
     
        Be proud of your postings but don't post just to see your name
        in pixels.  Remember: your future employer may be reading.
     
        {Netiquette for Usenet Site Administrators
        (http://ancho.ucs.indiana.edu/FAQ/USAGN/index.html)}.
     
        {"net.acceptable"
        (http://marketing.tenagra.com/net-acceptable.html)}.
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1999-10-18)