Promo: New to the Internet? Time for lessons in proper Internet etiquette, or Netiquette, next...

Learning a bit of Netiquette, or Internet etiquette, can help you make good decisions when interacting with other Internet users.

One of the biggest ways to make instant online enemies is to send bulk unsolicited e-mail. This is known as "spamming" by the online community. E-mail guaranteeing successes or chain letters will not only result in you getting a great deal of hate mail, but may result in getting kicked off by your Internet service provider. See, ISPs are expected to prevent the spamming and failing to do so invites angry hacker attacks.

A common faux pas when chatting with someone is to use all capital letters. This is considered to be screaming online and often not well received.

Also, when chatting, it is usually a good idea to at least attempt to spell well and use correct grammar. It not only shows that you are intelligent enough to maintain a conversation, but also lets them know you thought about what you have to say before saying it. Most Internet chatters much prefer a slow typist who is coherent to a fast one who doesn't make sense.

One of the largest chat problems is showing emotions through chat.

When we talk to one another face-to-face, we can usually tell if a person is joking or if he is getting upset. To indicate emotion in chat, use words in brackets like <grin> or <frown> or use emoticons, called smileys.

To read a smiley you may need to turn your head and use some imagination. For example :-) is a smiling face, :-@ is screaming, :-P is sticking your tongue out at someone.

So, the next time you get online, practice netiquette and remember that you are dealing with real people and not just computers and real people have real emotions.

From age 6 to 96 and beyond, there is something on the Internet for everyone. I'm Jack Nelson, The Internet Tutor.