The Virtual Woman: A Woman's
Weekly Guide To Cyberspace
WWWhere To Start: Web Basics For Beginners
So my Mom gets online about a month ago and writes: OHHONEY ITSSO WONDERFULTOBEABLE TO WRITE TO YOU DADSENDSHIS LOVE WE ARE ALL JUST SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS COMPUTER. LOVE MOM ANDDAD. Yowza. Mother. You are shouting, shouting without punctuation I might add. I hold my hands over my ears and squint as I read her ALLCAPS missive. Clearly, Mum needs some education. And hey, it's not her fault. Miss Manners and all the other watchdogs of etiquette before her had it easy. All they had to do was write the do's and don'ts of table manners. Rough life. But what about web etiquette more commonly referred to as "netiquette?" Parents don't teach kids netiquette. Schools don't teach it. Our work places don't officially guide us. How are we expected to function from a baseline of tech understanding in order to communicate with the world, our friends, our loved ones? Brace yourself kiddies and keep reading. Help is on the way.
Dear Virtual Woman:
If I had a penny for
every time I offended or confused someone over e-mail, I'd be able to pay a translator.
If there are basic rules of thumb when it comes to e-mail writing, I want at 'em.
- Eleanor, Tarrytown, NY
Dear Eleanor:
We've all heard the e-mail nightmares like: you've just typed a smart aleck response to a friend about an e-mail your boss sent to the whole office-however your friend never gets the message . . . the whole office, including your boss, gets the e-mail. Yup. Been there. Done that. Got the pink slip. Believe it or not, there are web sites dedicated to people like you who never had the luxury of E-mail Etiquette 101. There's NetEtiquette (http://www.albion.com/netiquette). Test your e-mail etiquette to evaluate where you stand in the bigger NetEtiquette stream of e-mails. Then read the site's "Complete Online Edition" of Etiquette over e-mail and chat rooms to understand the human element behind the pixels you type. It brings the convenience of instantaneous messaging into perspective. Also, for all you AOLers, if you have sent an email to another AOLer and they've not read it, you can go to the Mail Center and "unsend" that message. Now don't you wish Real Life were that way?
Dear Virtual Woman:
My parents are 1500 miles away
from me and are wary of the web. Actually, they're wary of the basic PC I bought them for
Christmas. Besides all that, one day I'd like them to feel comfortable with at least
sending e-mail to me. Where can I go for newbie information about the web and e-mail and
general topics like that?
- Carrie Johnson, New Orleans, LA
Dear Carrie:
Seems like you've joined that burgeoning club of adult children who have finally cut the cord, only to have it reconnected, en force, via email. An interesting thing to ponder from a sociological standpoint, no? Getting to know your parents virtually is an experience. Trust me. But back to your question. ThirdAge (www.thirdage.com/tech) is your best bet for getting your parents up to speed on internet, web, e-mail, tech basics. Since this site caters to the older American who may be reluctant to fiddle with personal computers, much less send e-mail, the tone is friendly and almost coaxing. Plus, the information it provides is understandable and easily applicable to the novice computer user.
Dear Virtual Woman:
Before the magical Internet,
I somehow managed to get through my grad school thesis in the '80s without a hitch. Now
having re-entered the workforce after six years, I find that my research at the library
is incomplete without having scoped out the major search engines. Question: What is the
best way for me to submit queries into these search engines? I need an objective guide to
show me the best short cuts and tips to use when searching for granular topics . . .
without having to go back to school for a Masters in Library Science.
- Winnie H., Bethesda, MD
Dear Winnie:
Web Tools (http://www.webtools.com) would be an ideal place for you. Ignore the plethora of in-depth tools and applications they provide and scroll down to their navigation bar at the bottom of the home page. Click on "Tips and Tricks." At this page look for "Search/Search Engines" and click on "General." You will find comprehensive explanations and instructions on using search engines to your advantage. A stop here will save you the hours you might spend on your most honed searches.
Happy Surfing!
Find these links and more at WWWomen.Com (http://www.wwwomen.com) the web's largest search directory of topics for women online. Email the Virtual Woman with your Internet questions or send snailmail to: WWWomen.Com, Attn: Virtual Woman, 3701 Geary Blvd., #325, S.F., CA 94118. Copyright, 1998. WWWomen, Inc. All rights reserved.
This column can only be re-distributed with written
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Contributing Editor: Mary C. Ray
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