Here are some good guidelines to follow when using your email account:

Do unto others, as you'd have others do unto you. Be polite and courteous at all times, just because you are not engaged in real world conversation, does not mean you can abandon real world manners and ethics. Remember that you're not communicating with a computer screen, but with a human being in possession of thoughts and feelings just like you. So before you fly off the handle or send a rude or offensive message, think about the person on the receiving end.

Be aware that the biggest problem with the Internet is that the written word is not easy to interpret. When you speak something, people can hear the tone of your voice. If they can see you, they can take visual clues from your face and body to see if you intend humor or if you are trying to soften what sounds like a harsh sentence. All of this is lost in text, and sometimes responses can come across as mean or rude, even when the writer did not intend them this way. This is the reason some people use emoticons (visual clues) in their e-mails, it saves a lot of confusion.

Be careful not to use rude or bad language online. Many providers will terminate your account.

Respect the privacy of others. If someone sends you e-mail on one topic, don't add him or her to your mass e-mailings without their permission. NEVER sell or give their e-mail address without permission to anyone else who will use it for promotion or advertising. Remember... you wouldn't want people reading your mail, why should you read theirs? It is poor manners - and thus poor netiquette - to read other people's private material without permission.

Don't break any laws. Cyberspace may seem like a completely different world, but remember that you're still in the real world, a world with laws and standards of ethics. When you're on the net, follow the same standard of behavior that you would in real life. Remember, if it is against the law in the real world, it is against the law in cyberspace.

Be universal. The world isn't all the same and other users have different Web browsers, different online services, different e-mail programs etc. So don't, for example, send out e-mail with text formatting -- boldface, italics, indentations, etc. -- because many other programs will not be able to read the formatting and the recipients will receive your e-mail filled with muddled codes.

Be brief where appropriate. Don't make people read stuff they don't want to know about. Never waste bandwidth with unnecessarily long postings and repeated postings. One of the golden rules of replying to an e-mail is to try editing out unimportant information and anything that is repeated. Long e-mails and forum postings also tend not to be read, so all your effort may be wasted.

Always identify yourself. Never send e-mail without including your name at the bottom of the e-mail. Similarly, don't post forum messages without identifying yourself, this is seen as rude. (In e-mail, always fill in the subject box, so people can see what the mail concerns).

Make a good impression. Remember that the written word is the only way you can represent yourself online, so spelling and grammar count. If you are going to be writing a large amount of text for other people to see, make sure you break it up using paragraphs, it will make it easier on the eye for those that will read it.