NETIQUETTE TIPS FOR HPfGU-Movie

 

Members of Harry Potter for Grown Ups’ Movie list are requested to observe certain rules of 'netiquette' and good practice, as outlined below.  These rules were established for our book discussion list, and they apply equally to the Movie list.

 

If you wish to discuss the Harry Potter books, please join our main list:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups

 

ATTENTION!

 

Please note that we have separate club areas for OT posts and Announcements:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-Announcements

 

Bear in mind that the Moderators will be standing over you, flexing their wands and eyeing

up that box of Howlers sitting in the corner of the cyber-office. You may get the odd

advisory e-owl from us if we think you're getting a bit unruly, and if you're really,

really naughty, you may end up being turned into a ferret and getting bounced. Consider

yourselves warned!

 

[Moderators exit, stage left, cackling...]

 

 

CLICKABLE CONTENTS:

 

IF YOU HAVEN'T POSTED HERE BEFORE... 1

KEEP THE SUBJECT LINE RELEVANT TO THE CONTENT OF THE POST. 2

CLEARLY DISTINGUISH YOUR OPINIONS/THEORIES FROM FACTS. 2

KEEP YOUR POSTS ON TOPIC.. 2

TRY TO AVOID ONE-LINE AND ULTRA-SHORT POSTS. 3

TAKE CARE WHEN RESPONDING TO POSTS. 3

TAKE THE TIME TO PROOFREAD YOUR POSTS. 3

BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHER MEMBERS' FEELINGS. 4

 

IF YOU HAVEN'T POSTED HERE BEFORE...

 

It is worth reading a few days' worth of messages before posting your own. You can do this either by "lurking" (reading messages, but not writing them) for a few days, or by going back through the most recent messages. This way, you'll get a "feel" for the group, and you can make sure you're not repeating something that has been posted recently by someone else.

 

KEEP THE SUBJECT LINE RELEVANT TO THE CONTENT OF THE POST

 

Message board conversations, like "real life" ones, will often drift from one subject to another.

If the subject line does not change to fit the direction of the conversation, it can frustrate

the reader.

 

When replying to a message, please take the time to check the subject line and make sure it

still matches your post.  It isn't very helpful if your post is headed, for example, "Digest #345" or "A question."

 

CLEARLY DISTINGUISH YOUR OPINIONS/THEORIES FROM FACTS

 

If you are expressing an opinion or espousing a pet theory, be sure that the other readers will

recognize it as an opinion or theory. Using phrases such as IMO (in my opinion), "I believe,"

"This is all speculation but I think ....," etc. will make it clear that your statements are not

necessarily based on facts from the books (canon) or movies (movie-canon). It can be very confusing for everyone if someone

puts forth a theory without any qualifying language.

 

KEEP YOUR POSTS ON TOPIC

 

In such a large and active group, it's easy for discussions to go off on a tangent. If a couple

of you find something in common other than Harry Potter, wonderful! Getting to know people is,

perhaps, the best thing about clubs. But if you find your discussion getting away from the main

point of the club, please continue it off-list.

 

TRY TO AVOID ONE-LINE AND ULTRA-SHORT POSTS

 

Please take a moment to think about the following guidelines on short posts:-

 

-- Consider expanding on your point. For example, if you are posing a question about the HP movies

("What about so-and-so?"), could you add some thoughts of your own to lead off any discussion?

 

-- Consider combining your shorter points/responses with a few others in a multi-topic post, making

sure the topic line indicates this. However, if your point is substantive (or just plain lengthy),

it is best to give it space on its own to make the thread easier to follow.

 

-- Avoid "me too!" and "LOL!" posts that have absolutely no other content.

 

Sometimes a brief response is perfectly acceptable; for example, if you are correcting an error

someone has made that might be of general interest.

 

 

TAKE CARE WHEN RESPONDING TO POSTS

 

If you are replying to a message, please indicate the name of the person who wrote the original

and include any relevant segments of their post, or a brief summary of their point(s). At the

same time, please try to delete any parts of the original post that are not relevant to your

point(s), especially if the original was really long! Please avoid putting your reply at the end

of a very long quoted segment unless absolutely necessary. In most cases, it will be easy enough

to delete some or all of the quoted material.

 

Remember, also, that if you respond in a fresh post rather than using the 'reply' button, your

response will not appear in the "replies to this message" in any search. In general, if someone

asks a question that has a unique answer, please try to check through the message headers to see

if anyone else has responded to it before posting the answer. It's understandable that several

people may dash off a response just after the original message, but there should be no need for

further posts after that.

 

 

TAKE THE TIME TO PROOFREAD YOUR POSTS

 

If you're used to forums where speed is important (chat rooms, role playing games, etc.), it's

easy to fall out of the habit of proofreading. Here, however, your post will be as relevant in

five minutes (or, usually, even in five hours) as it is now.

 

Before hitting the 'send' button, please take a few minutes to look over your post and correct any

typos, spelling/punctuation errors, or problems with sentence structure or capitalization. This

will make it much easier to read and help in getting across your point.

 

Please avoid using all lower case letters or, worse still, all CAPITAL LETTERS.

 

 

BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHER MEMBERS' FEELINGS

 

If you disagree with someone's message, no matter how strongly, remember to respect the other

person's right to his or her own opinion. If you do wish to refute the post, do so gently, by

building up your own case, rather than just knocking down the other person's. And never attack

your fellow club members (name calling, personal remarks, etc).

 

Thanks!!

 

From your Magical Moderators

HPforGrownups-owner@yahoogroups.com