Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth
It's a cliché that people today seem to have less time than ever before, even though (or perhaps because) we sleep less and have more labor-saving devices than our grandparents did. When you send email or post to a discussion group, you're taking up other people's time (or hoping to). It's your responsibility to ensure that the time they spend reading your posting isn't wasted.
The word "bandwidth" is sometimes used synonymously with time, but
it's really a different thing.
Bandwidth is the information-carrying
capacity of the wires and channels that connect everyone in cyberspace.
There's a limit to the amount of data that any piece of wiring can carry
at any given moment -- even a state-of-the-art fiber-optic cable. The
word "bandwidth" is also sometimes used to refer to the storage capacity of a host system. When you accidentally post the same note to the
same newsgroup five times, you are wasting both time (of the people
who check all five copies of the posting) and bandwidth (by sending
repetitive information over the wires and requiring it to be stored somewhere).
Presumably, this reminder will be superfluous to most readers. But I
include it anyway, because when you're working hard on a project and
deeply involved in it, it's easy to forget that other people have concerns
other than yours. So don't expect instant responses to all your questions, and don't assume that all readers will agree with -- or care about -- your passionate arguments.
Rule 4 has a number of implications for discussion group users. Most
discussion group readers are already spending too much time sitting at
the computer; their significant others, families, and roommates are
drumming their fingers, wondering when to serve dinner, while those
network maniacs are catching up on the latest way to housebreak a
puppy or cook zucchini.
You are not the center of cyberspace
Rules for
discussion groups
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