EMail Etiquette

1
E-Mail Etiquette

• Article by Keith C. Ivey
• Presented by Chris Neidert

2
E-mail Today

• Ray Tomlinson sent the first e-mail in 1972 on
  what eventually became known as the internet
• Presently, billions of messages have been sent
• E-mail is an increasingly popular internet
  application, but could be more effectively and
  efficiently used

3
Know Your Application

• Become familiar with e-mail application and its
  features
• Read the manual or help guide
• Many features not well known, but could improve
  the efficiency of composing and sending e-mails

4
Minimize Line Length

• When composing messages, lines of text should not
  be too long
• Shorter lines easier to read
• Some programs dont do an effective job of
  wrapping text

5
Addressing Messages

• When sending or replying to a message, ensure it
  is being sent to correct address
• Dont make mistake of replying to list if
  intended for one personimportant to check To
  and Cc lines
• Use blind carbon copy (bcc) when sending a
  message to multiple addresses so everyones
  address is not exposed to all recipients

6
Personalization

• Create a signature to be added at the end of all
  messages
• Signature should contain name of sender and
  contact information
• Should avoid extra content and be limited to a
  maximum of four lines

7
Clarity and Formatting

• Message should be written with ASCII code to make
  sure it is understood by all applications
• Text and font should not be heavily formatted
• Formatting, images, and charts could be
  incompatible with other mail programs
• When adding a link to a web page, make sure it
  begins with http//
• - Makes clickable in some programs

8
Other Guidelines

• When replying, important to include only relevant
  quotes from message being replied to
• Dont send annoying junk mail such as chain
  letters, virus alerts, and spam (unsolicited
  bulk e-mail)
• A descriptive subject line should be used to help
  users differentiate between important e-mail and
  junk/malicious e-mail