Email etiquette is something overlooked quite often. I know because I correspond through email regularly and more often than I care to admit. Because of the nature of the medium, it can often be hard to discern the temperament, intent, and tone of a conversation. While good email etiquette cannot guarantee misunderstandings won’t happen, it can go a long way to safely conveying a message and getting points across accurately, yet politely. Good etiquette is nothing more than a show of respect, a courtesy to the other person or persons in the conversation.
Here are the most commonly overlooked aspects of good email etiquette…
- YELLING IN ALL-CAPS!!! – this is one a surprising number of people don’t even know about. Typing a message in all caps is considered the equivalent to yelling at someone. This is because typing in all caps is used to really get someone’s attention…and what better way to get someone’s attention than to YELL AT THEM?!? Emails should be typed in standard puncuation and capitalization, just like this sentence.
- Using Carbon Copy and Blind Carbon Copy – this often-misused practice has its own set of legitimate issues, so I expanded it into its own article. Read about it here.
- Large Attachments – the web 1.0 and 2.0 ages saw the upstart of many online services capable of sending and/or hosting content of extraordinary size. That content ranges from pictures to videos to music and just about anything a person can imagine. It is, therefore, unnecessary to attach a large set of pictures of someone’s wedding or a gigantic movie-of-the-week and try to email it to someone. Not only is it unnecessary, it will probably fail. As of this writing, most email systems currently allow about 25 megabytes of attachments per email. That’s big enough for most documents that need to be sent. Anything bigger will fail. And if it doesn’t fail, the recipient will probably wish it had. Some people are still on relatively slow internet connections and receiving large attachments can completely stop their email system for quite a while. It is a much better practice to use Youtube to host videos, YouSendIt.com to send large attachments, Flickr to host a large array of pictures, and other online services which can take the load of heavy media. Email isn’t and never was meant for transporting large amounts of data.
- Chain letters – chain letters were originally any formulated letter created with the express purpose of garnering others to forward the letter to others they knew for the purpose of wide-spread publicity. However, today’s chain letters are classified as any regular emails, whether they be jokes, feel-good stories, etc., that the recipient did not ask for. To clarify, the occassional joke or forwarded article of interest is fine, and if two or more consenting parties have an “understanding” and enjoy the frequent back and forth sharing of emails, no harm is being done.
- Fact-Checking – it is well-known by non-offenders of this rule that the majority of lessons, feel-good stories, threats, warnings, charity, and various other types of emails with any claim are mostly or completely false. When forwarding an email, take a moment to use any of the popular fact-checking sites to verify the veracity of the claim before poisoning other inboxes with half-truthes and malicious content.
- Mailing Lists – if you decide to put together a mailing list, it is always good etiquette to either advertise that mailing list on a website or send one and only one email to those potential recipients promoting that mailing list with directions to join. It is not okay to unilaterally add addresses to the list and assume their willing participation. The rule of thumb is to let users opt-in, not opt-out.
- Subject Line – it sounds silly, but getting an email with no subject line can be unnerving. It is almost like getting a phone call at 3 a.m. Always include a subject line. People on average receive more email than ever. Including a simple, short subject line highlighting the topic of the email lets the recipient know the nature of the email, and can even let them know whether it is something they need to read immediately or at their discretion. Again, simple courtesy.
- Missing Salutation – it isn’t necessary to be cordial and formal all the time, especially with close friends. But more often than not, it is appropriate to at least start an email with the person’s name, and maybe a ‘hi’. I have received far too many emails with no salutation, no greeting…just a poorly capitalized one-line imperative sentence blurting out something that may or may not be a question. It is the digital version of interrupting a conversation. Remember, it is hard enough to convey a tone and temperament in such a cold, sterile medium. The writer must use these seemingly unimportant aspects to deliver the message properly without turning the recipient off.
- Punctuation and capitalization – I would have thought the importance of this would have been covered in grammar school, but it seems many people have forgotten this. Punctuation and capitalization not only reflect the intelligence of the sender (accurately or inaccurately), it generally makes reading the email easier and more pleasant. It can often be difficult to discern the point the writer is making if the reader has to wade through run-on phrases, no periods, no apparent beginnings or endings of sentences.
- Rainbows of flavors – most email programs and online tools have the ability to change the color, size, and font used in emails. That doesn’t always mean that they should be changed. Except for rare, festive or eye-grabbing purposes, it is generally unprofessional and just plain annoying to send emails with varying colors, fonts, and sizes in the same email. It is distracting, and rarely in a good way. Party notices might find this useful. Most users should not succumb to the temptation. If you want to get a point across, try simple, polite, but direct statements in good grammar.