E-Mail Etiquette
Just as there has been a form and etiquette to letter writing, there
is a netiquette to e-mail. In e-mail it is sometimes hard to detect a
person's real feelings or intent. It is also all too easy to say too much
in an e-mail. The following are a few pointers that will protect you and
make your e-mail messages more readable.
Ten E-Mail Commandments
- Be discreet. Never commit anything to e-mail that you would
not want to have made public. An e-mail is no more private than a postcard.
- Don't flame. If another person's message angers you, resist
the temptation to fire off an immediate, emotional response. Messages
once sent, cannot be recovered. Draft a response, file it away for 24
hours, and reconsider your reaction. If someone flames you, let it pass.
- Don't SHOUT IN UPPER CASE! People will
think you are angry. Also, upper case is harder to read..
- Alert people. Use a subject that succinctly describes the content
of your message. Some people receive upwards of 100 mail messages a
day. Often, these people will use their mail program to sort messages
by subject, or they will scan the messages by subject and by sender
to determine priority.
- Give some clues. Since e-mail messages
lack non-verbal clues to indicate the speaker's intent, misinterpretation
is all too easy. In many electronic mail messages, it is sometimes useful
to indicate words meant in jest. This may be done through the use of
smiley faces or emoticons. If you tilt your head sideways to
the left, :-) appears as a smiling face. Some of the more common faces
are in the box below. Smileys are good between friends, but they may
be frowned upon in the office.
| Smiley |
Meaning |
| :-D |
laughing |
| :-] |
smirk |
| ;-) |
wink |
| 8-) |
wide-eyed, or smiley with glasses |
| :-( |
frown |
| :-X |
close mouthed |
| :-o |
oh, no!, or WOW! |
- Be brief. Economy in expression is valued in e-mail. Put your
most important points first, especially if you need a decision. On business
correspondence, it's good to keep to one topic per e-mail.
Some people might also use acronyms, although this is more common in
online chat.
| Acronym |
Meaning |
| btw |
by the way |
| fyi |
for your information |
| imho |
in my humble [or honest] opinion |
| wrt |
with respect to |
| fotfl |
falling on the floor laughing |
- Check your mail every day - don't leave friends or colleagues
in e-mail hell. It's bad for business.
- Sign your e-mail messages with your name and e-mail address.
Not all mail software displays the full envelope, and if you don't include
a signature, recipients may not know how to reach you.
- Avoid fancy logos and long quotations in your 'signature'.
- Do not forward jokes, chain letters, and e-mail hoaxes to other
people. Hoaxes and chain letters are definitely out - jokes are a matter
of taste.
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Reading
Essentials of E-Mail Etiquette in PCWorld (Jan 2002) Another
set of Ten Commandments.
E-Mail
Misunderstandings
When electronic communication generates more questions than answers,
it's time to re-evaluate our habits. Jilll Geisler, Poynter Online
(Feb 13, 2006) Added March 2006
Tips
for Mastering E-Mail Overload by Stever Robbins, Entrepreneur.com
(April 2005) - how to send better e-mail. Added
March 2006
Five
fast email productivity tips from 43 Folders (Feb 2005) Added
March 2006
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Privacy
E-Mail is not private, especially in the workplace. Seven Deadly EMail Thoughts by Chris Oakes (August 4, 2000)
reviews seven very common misconceptions about privacy.
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E-Mail Overload
Tips on how to manage it Added March 2006
1. Don't read everything.
2. Use the delete key.
3. Reply quickly or not at all.
4. Try to handle an email only once: reply, file, delete.
5. Control the in-box even if it is to move messages into a catch-all
folder.
6. Use folders to keep mail organized. Folders can be by topic or
sender.
7. Set up filters to put incoming or outgoing mail in folders.
8. Use a real e-mail program for main e-mail.. Web mail is good
but your own program will be more reliable.
9. Use a web-based email account for subscriptions to newsletters
or when registering at a website.
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