Windows

Email Etiquette

Posted by on Oct 20, 2006 | 9 Comments

Email etiquette should still be alive and well. Let me share a few pointers that you might care to pass along, privately, to those who may not be aware of the unspoken rules. Unless everybody knows everybody else in an email thread, it’s always best to use the BCC option. Believe me, every single email utility on the planet has a BCC option. But wait, there’s more you need to remember!

To BCC or Not to BCC

  1. NEVER TYPE IN ALL CAPS. THAT’S LIKE SCREAMING. REALLY!
  2. Be wary of any kind of attachment – even if it comes from someone you know.
  3. If a file you wish to send is larger than 2MB, think twice before sending it.
  4. HTML stationery is annoying; if you don’t need to use it, don’t.
  5. As the comic above illustrates, use BCC instead of CC to keep other email addresses private.
  6. Don’t delete relevant information when you reply to someone.
  7. If you can’t spell well, rememmber to run a spell check before sending.
  8. Try to keep your messages as short as possible – you’re not writing a novel.
  9. Check Snopes before forwarding info that sounds too good to be true.
  10. Never send emails when you’re mad – wait until you calm down first. Trust me.
  11. Triple-check that you’re not sending a message to someone who shouldn’t see it.
  12. Remember that when you send something electronically, it has the potential of “living” forever.
  13. Before you forward an email joke, make sure it’s funny first. Please?

[tags]email, etiquette, netiquette[/tags]

  • Bob Faehnle

    Chris, Thanks for the etiquette lesson. I immediatley sent it to my monther-in-law who I convinced that email was important. You did however forget one etiquette rule: “NEVER SEND EMAILS THAT PROMISE WINNINGS, GOOD LUCK, BLESSINGS, DISASTERS, ETC, IF YOU ONLY FORWARD THAT EMAIL (OR DON’T FORWARD THE EMAIL)!!” (Yes, I know I yelled at you.)

  • Pingback: To BCC, or not to BCC « Digital Dharma

  • Tony Trenton

    In response to your comments on etiquette. Let’s take it a step further.

    As a long time Gnomie (+-, 1997).
    Dear Chris,
    I am very happy for you & your success. I live in Israel & the need for a definition of the abstract nouns democracy & freedom have never been more necessary. Touting the words FREEDOM & DEMOCRACY means anything & nothing.
    So here it is:
    A democratic society gives each member of that society the freedom to make RESPONSIBLE CHOICES. Not just for themselves, but also for the other members of that society.
    If everybody would RESPECT the other’s FREEDOM TO MAKE RESPONSIBLE CHOICES, There would be very little conflict & we would become a civilized society.
    We must teach our children from day one, that they alone are responsible for their own thoughts, feeling, & actions.

    It is physically impossible to know another person’s thoughts & feelings. Only the individual can & must be taught to take that responsibility.

    A classic example of the error of thinking is in the phrase: “I trusted you, and you let me down.” If I trusted you, then it is my choice and my responsibility. Not yours!
    Another is; ” You hurt my feelings.” This is obviously ridiculous. If my feeling are hurt that is my reaction to the events, not yours .

    Those that choose not to take responsibility for themselves, must ultimately answer to the rule of law.

    There are evolutionary benefits to those who cooperate.
    Together we stand. Divided we fall.

    There are no truly democratic states or countries in the world today. Pretty well everybody thinks that democratic freedoms mean that the individual is free to do what ever he or she likes regardless of anyone else.
    This confusion together with the teachings of the Koran for cutting the throats of all infidels is adding fuel to the Muslim desire of world wide domination.
    King Abdullah of Jordan’s opinion is that democracy means different things to different people, and he is one of the good guys.

    At a meeting of the Arab league a few years ago your Martin Indig was invited by the chairman, Amal Moosa, to explain “Your Western Democracy, because we find it confusing.”
    Needless to say anybody listening would not have been enlightened and would be just as confused as before.

    If we mature as a global society of responsible individuals, there would be very little conflict. We would become a civilized society and
    maybe, just maybe, we would become eligible to join the Galactic Federation.

    The truth is out there!

    PS. I hope I ‘ve spelt names correctly. If not I apologise.

  • Sherman E. DeForest

    You missed an important point: stick to one point per letter. The very nature of email is short and single-topic. Letters that must have more than one point should use a bulleted list and leave expansion for a later time.

    Sherm

  • Pingback: Ian’s Messy Desk » links for 2006-10-22

  • http://www.tyloon.com Barry

    There is one item that should be added to the list above:

    14. Always use web-based email account, instead of an email client, such as Outlook Express, etc. no matter how an email client makes you feel good or convenient. Web mail is much safer, and you won’t re-install everything, because of virus and spyware, for much longer time.

  • Gerry

    While I agree totally with all your e-mail ettiquette points, there are two caveats to consider:

    Some spam filters apparently, by default, consider any mail received via the bcc line to be spam. I’ve recently run across this with mail sent to about 40 recipents, with one recipient (who is not that computer swift) not getting any of my mailings. So far, she hasn’t found a way of actually accessing her spam settings-which may be her, not the filter, but it will take a visit to sort this out.

    Secondly, some ISP’s make distributing e-mail to more than a few people difficult. Mine is an example, not allowing more than 10 recipients in total. I know they are trying to prevent spammers from using their servers, but most of us have more than 10 friends and acquaintances, and this kind of low limit is overkill. 100 might make sense, since making spammers break up mass mailings into chunks of 100 would keep them from using that ISP, when there are others with no limits.

  • Asension Torres

    I just experienced a potential etiquette blunder (in my opinion).

    Don’t include the previous message thread as your reply. To put it another way, if you are replying or answering an email with requested information then do not use the sender’s email as the answer. The sender is not likely to look in his own portion of the thread for the reply or information. Their eyes will not look into their email for information that they are expecting from you. Your reply is your reply and not someone elses email that you have altered. Consider the example below.

    What do you think?

    Vr,
    Asension.Torres
    Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk
    Code 200, Acquisitions
    1968 Gilbert St Ste 600
    Norfolk, VA 23511-3392
    757-443-1609 (Commercial)
    757-646-1609 (Defense Switched Network)
    757-443-1617 (Facsimile)
    mailto:asension.torres@navy.mil

    Quoted email below
    —–Original Message—–
    From: Torres, Asension NAVSUP FISC Code 205A2
    Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 13:57
    To: Other Party
    Subject: RE: NCMA Membership

    I guess you missed the info I input below. Here you go.

    Thanks,

    Please include the following entries:
    Address: 8723 Semmes Avenue
    City: Norfolk, VA
    Zipcode: 23503
    Phone: 757-443-1407

    —–Original Message—–
    From: Other Party
    Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 13:55
    To: Torres, Asension NAVSUP FISC Code 205A2
    Subject: RE: NCMA Membership

    Please email me the information if you would like to renew.

    —–Original Message—–
    From: Torres, Asension NAVSUP FISC Code 205A2
    Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 13:53
    To: Other Party; Other Party
    Subject: RE: NCMA Membership

    I’m not declining. I’m wondering if FISC Norfolk will renew it by October 2007. I’ll email Maryanne then. Thank you.

    Maryanne,

    Will FISC Norfolk renew my NCMA membership that’s due to expire this October 2007.

    Carmelita

    —–Original Message—–
    From: Other Party
    Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 13:51
    To: Torres, Asension NAVSUP FISC Code 205A2
    Subject: RE: NCMA Membership

    You might want to check with Maryanne. I’m only collecting the info requested for the folks who are interested in renewing their membership or getting new subscriptions. Since your declining renewal now by FISC, you may have to wait until next year this time. Or perhaps Maryanne can do updates in the middle of the year.

    —–Original Message—–
    From: Torres, Asension NAVSUP FISC Code 205A2
    Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 13:45
    To: Other Party
    Subject: RE: NCMA Membership

    Thanks. I hope it works.

    —–Original Message—–
    From: Other Party
    Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 13:44
    To: Torres, Asension NAVSUP FISC Code 205A2
    Cc: Other Party
    Subject: RE: NCMA Membership

    The contract will be renewed by Maryanne. I don’t know if she does ad hoc additions.

    —–Original Message—–
    From: Torres, Asension NAVSUP FISC Code 205A2
    Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 13:41
    To: Other Party
    Subject: RE: NCMA Membership

    I don’t understand. Will FISC renew it by October? How does it normally work?

    —–Original Message—–
    From: Other Party
    Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 13:39
    To: Torres, Asension NAVSUP FISC Code 205A2
    Subject: RE: NCMA Membership

    No problem … I’ll remove you from the renewal list.

    —–Original Message—–
    From: Torres, Asension NAVSUP FISC Code 205A2
    Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 13:28
    To: Other Party
    Subject: RE: NCMA Membership

    My membership will expire on 31 October 2007. Thanks,
    Asension

    —–Original Message—–
    From: Other Party
    Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 13:20
    To: “Group Distro”
    Subject: NCMA Membership
    Importance: High

    The delay buying more NCMA memberships gives us a chance to add more folks to the list. If you would like a membership subscription then just reply with your mailing address and contact info in order to receive the Contracting Management Periodical (http://www.ncmahq.org/)

    Please include the following entries:
    Address: 8723 Semmes Avenue
    City: Norfolk, VA
    Zipcode: 23503
    Phone: 757-443-1407

    No need to reply if you are not interested,

    Other Party
    Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk
    Code 200, Contracting
    1968 Gilbert St Ste 600
    Norfolk, VA 23511-3392
    >

  • http://www.orbisoft.com Mark Brownlee

    If you set an expected response-time on your email with the free email add-on at http://www.gertes.com then the person you are emailing can know what you expect. If they don’t like it they can change it. See http://www.gertes.com/pages/about/what_is/