Skill Goal: Making arguments in online discussion
Subject: The Crusades: good or bad?

One of the most active areas of public discussion in recent years has been online. This can take place in Usenet groups, on maillists, on AOL, or in class-based discussion software such as Blackboard, Web-CT, or Caucus.

Your project here is to learn how to make effective arguments in such a situation.

1. Join a relevant group.

Try searching for history news groups at http://groups.google.com/, OR

Take part in the class discussion software created for your course.

If the group you join is a usenet/netnews group or an Internet maillist, read what other people are posting for at least a week so that you can evaluate the "tone" of the group.

2. Begin a discussion of your views on whether the Crusades were on the whole "beneficial" or "destructive."

Try to follow these recommendations. [In the tradition of the Internet, here I have appropriated and altered others' hard work for this list. Credit goes to Peter Milbury and Mike Eisenberg, co-owners of the LM-NET listserv for School Library Media Specialists, and to Jennifer Chandler, University of SCU College of Library and Information Science]

• When sending messages to a discussion list, or posting in online discussion software, keep the following suggestions in mind. They will help keep the group user-friendly for everyone.
• Include a subject line in each posting (it's a good idea for ALL e-mail).
• Keep each line in your message shorter than 70 characters. Longer lines can cause problems with some e-mail systems.
• When replying to another message, try to refrain from quoting entire messages. Paraphrasing or quoting selectively are both kinder to people's eyes and e-mail boxes.
• At the end of your message, include your name and your electronic mail address (this is your electronic "signature"). Because it can be difficult to interpret e-mail addresses, you are encouraged to include your institutional affiliation (i.e., what school you are at).
• Long signatures are discouraged. They may be humorous the first time, but get old quickly. Two to four lines
  should be sufficient to include any necessary information.
• Think before you post. Do I really want to say this to the world (list)? Reread what you wrote. Did you really say what you intended to? Once a message is sent by e-mail, it can't be retrieved.
• Flames: a "flame" is an emotionally charged posting and is often directed at someone. Be sure you really want to post it, and remember that some lists don't tolerate flames.
• To signal humorous intent, use some sort of "smiley," such as :-). Facetiousness and sarcasm can be misunderstood easily in electronic communication.
• Be considerate of others. Through inexperience or limited local software, list members may inadvertently violate the above suggestions.
• DON'T SHOUT--unless you really mean it. The use of all uppercase letters is considered shouting, and therefore rude. Part of the problem with all caps is that it is harder to read than mixed case. The other problem is that since facial expression and tone of voice are missing from electronic communication, some way to express strong opinions (both positive and negative) is needed, so ALL CAPS has been designated.

Some common abbreviations found in mail notices are:

FWIW => for what it's worth

GOK => God only knows

IMHO => In my humble opinion

LOL => laughing out loud

OTOH => on the other hand.

After the discussion is over, which might take several days or weeks, try to evaluate your own style and other styles of argument. What worked best? What was most persuasive? What really annoyed other readers?