- Be Christ-Centered: Speak with respect and charity, just as courteously and thoughtfully as you would when speaking in person to someone with others listening in.
- Give the best interpretation to what others say. Remember that you might easily miss or misinterpret something because email doesn't convey all the nuance of in-person communication.
- Stick to the topic and questions at hand.
- Discuss ideas, not feelings.
- Cite your sources.
- Recognize that not all evidence has the same quality. (Objective evidence is far stronger than subjective, data is better than anecdote, and so forth.)
- Keep the focus on the goal of finding the truth, not "winning" the argument.
- If you have a problem or concern with someone, contact that individual privately about it first.
- Don’t Double-Dip! (give your input, then allow others to respond)
- If a moderator steps in and asks for a time of reflection or to close the discussion, respect that by not continuing the discussion in any form -- on any thread in the forum -- until you receive the go-ahead from the moderators or management.
(Based on Ten Commandments for Small Group Discussions)
Bonus item:
I saw it on the Internet - a great 4-part resource from the Happy Scientist, intended for kids but good for anyone, about fact-checking what you see on the Internet.