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"Email Etiquette"
By
Mike Geronimo Lanier
Webmaster
Remember that time when you were at a fancy dinner party and wondered which one of the four forks to use. How about the time you began eating your food before everyone else was
served or you started to eat before the food was blessed. We have social standards of conduct in our society. The more refined you believe yourself to be, the more you pay attention and adhere to these
standards.
As technology introduces new ways of communicating, we have to learn the social etiquette that goes along with the new mediums of communication. Since email is the most prolific form of
new communication within main stream society, it is imperative that you understand the basics of proper social etiquette when using email.
Remember, email once sent cannot be retrieved. It
represents you to the world and can have a lasting impact on how others perceive you. Never ever write an angry or emotionally charged email and send it immediately. Always save it as a draft and come
back to it an hour or so later. You will usually re-write it and send out a less emotionally charged email. With email, we often send it without a second thought only to regret it later.
Remember
to use your spell checker. You don't want to send out email with words spelled incorrectly. This reflects directly on you. Some email programs like outlook even have grammar checking as well. Take
advantage of these tools.
To convey emotions in writing, we use exclamation points, bolding, and capitalizations. Don't make the mistake in over using these. All caps mean you are screaming at the
top of your voice. All lower case means you are whispering. This is appropriate - "i really enjoyed our date to see stevie wonder at the fox". This is not appropriate – "THANKS FOR THE INFO, I LOOK
FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU".
Make sure to use a subject in your email. With unsolicited emails in everyone's in-box, it can be a chore to decipher which emails to read first. By using an
appropriate subject, the person receiving your email will appreciate the ability to categorize the importance of your email.
Fancy text and backgrounds are ok when used appropriately. They can
detract from your professional communiqué in a business setting. Remember, not everyone reading your email is using the latest browser and fastest computer. Sending web formatted (HTML) email with lots
of graphics and bells and whistles have its problems. If the person receiving your email can only view text emails, the message in the email may never come through. It's best to have the most important
information in your email in plane formatted text. You can always accent the email with a few colorful items for those that can see them.
The most common mistake new email users do is to "Reply To
All" when answering an email that has been sent to a group of people. You need to make sure that you reply to only the person that sent the email, unless of course you want everyone in the group to share
in your response.
Another annoying occurrence is for people to forward too much email that has no value or perpetuates a rumor or misinformation. Before forwarding email, make sure the information
is correct and true. Many email stories about getting free money from Bill Gates, or the latest virus are hoaxes that detract from the utility of email and show everyone just how unaware you are.
When forwarding email, delete the email headers showing all of the email addresses of the person that originally sent you the email. It is impolite to forward these emails with the addresses embedded in
them. The only time you want to embed these headers with the email addresses is in a business situation when you want the reader to see the electronic thread associated with the email as an added source
of information.
Don't forward or send executable files (files ending with .exe). These files often contain viruses. There is nothing worse then having your co-worker or family member tell you that
you gave them a virus. If you must send attachments, use a virus detection program such as Norton Antivirus. These virus detection programs can be setup to automatically scan your sent and received email
attachments.
There are three places to put email addresses for your email – To, Cc, Bc. You are required to have an email address in the "To" field. You can have one or more emails in any of the
fields. It is important to understand that when placing email addresses in the "Cc" field you are sending a carbon copy of the email to all of those people. All of the email addresses in the "Cc" field
can be viewed by everyone else. By using the "Bc" field "Blind Copy" you are sending copies of the same email to multiple people without the email addresses being shared.
Other new technologies
that require new forms of socialization are cell phones, instant messaging, text messaging, walkie-talkie phones, chat rooms, blogs, tele-conferencing, and video conferencing. As these technologies
become mainstream it will be important for you to learn even more new rules of etiquette.
Some helpful websites for email etiquette are:
Network Etiquette
Senior Corps Tech Center Email Etiquette Guide
Tips on Email Netiquette
If you have any specific questions, feel free to
email the Webmaster - Mike Geronimo Lanier at webmaster@etigerteam.com
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