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H:\!DOCS\MSOFFICE\WINWORD\TEMPLATE\NORMAL.DOT EMAIL ETIQUETTE Charles V. Balch Charles V. Balch Email Etiquette Charles Balch, Spring 96, Version 1.0 Electronic Mail (Email) falls somewhere between a direct conversation and a formal written memo or letter (snail mail). Few people compose their writing as carefully for Email as they do in more formal written communication. Thus Email tends to include emotional topics. Since the visual cues of dress, body language, and so on are absent, Email is both democratic and open to misinterpretation. Please keep the following suggestions in mind: Before you send, review to make sure that your message will not be misunderstood. If you are using humor or sarcasm, make sure it will be understood as such. Often used symbols are: Frown Smiley Smile and Wink By The Way Grinning Ducking and Running IMHO In My Humble Opinion PMJI Pardon My Jumping In Read the F* Manual TPTB The Powers That Be YMMV Your Mileage May Vary BTW some persons feel that your writing should communicate your message and that “emoticons” should never be used. I like ‘em. ;-) Don’t flame! If a message has upset or angered you, resist the temptation to fire off an immediate response. Wait a day or two. Reconsider in the light of a new day and a rereading of the original message. Consider what the other person’s response will be As a member of a group, you will get messages that are pertinent to most of that group but not you. Do not flame over parts of messages that are not pertinent to you. Angry responses beget other angry responses and waste time. Stick to issues that concern you. Be informed by other issues and go on. Don’t correct people who have sent a message incorrectly to a group. Particularly for large groups, plenty of other people will do this. If you must correct someone, send them individual mail. Be Careful with your responses! If the original message defines a problem, your response should either further define that problem or add to the solution. Otherwise, don’t respond. Decide who really needs to get the message. Change the address when appropriate. When you respond to a message, first check to see if it came from a discussion group or an individual. Stop and think, should the whole group see your reply? I often receive personal messages that were accidentally sent to me. Make the content of your reply clear! Remove unimportant parts of earlier messages. Format your messages properly. Keep your lines short (you should not have more than about 65 characters/line). Provide proper context. You can’t expect a person to remember the message they sent you. Repeat only enough of the original message to remind the person about the issues. Cryptic one line or one word messages without any part of the original message are hard to understand. Indicate who wrote what. If you are responding to a message with multiple authors (even two), make sure you unambiguously refer to the original message's contents. Change the SUBJECT when appropriate. If your reply changes the subject, change the subject header. Subject Headers should be action oriented. Use “we should do X” not “X” or “Info on X” Lead the message with the most important information. Break up a message that has become multiple threads (subjects) into separate messages. Keep messages to only one subject. Second subjects may be missed. Let people know who wrote what! Sign your off-campus messages. At the very least, include your name, institution, and e-mail address. This information is automatically included in the header of your message but should be in the body as well. Better yet, include your mailing address and phone number. This information is often included in a signature. Normal Heading 1 Heading 2 Heading 3 Heading 4 Heading 5 Heading 6 Default Paragraph Font Header Footnote Text List Table Footnote Reference Bibliography Example Quote Question Answer wfxRecipient wfxFaxNum Heading UVZc0 Telecom_Out Telecom_In Page_Heading wfxDate Title_Heading wfxTime wfxSubject Charles V. Balch&H:\!DOCS\CLASSDOC\WINDOWS\ETIQUETE.DOCÿ@HP LaserJet 4 Plus/4M Plus LPT3: HPPCL5E HP LaserJet 4 Plus/4M Plus HP LaserJet 4 Plus/4M Plus Symbol Courier New Palatino Book Antiqua Courier EMAIL ETIQUETTE Charles V. Balch Charles V. Balch