What is E-mail etiquette?

What is E-mail etiquette?

Learn some proper e-mail etiquette by reading this article!

 

Email is the foremost method of communication today. And, it is undoubtedly one of the most widely used methods of communication used today next to the telephone, the post office, and the FAX machine. Like every other form of communication, one must use proper etiquette when dealing with other human beings. There are, of course, rules of etiquette which pertain to email, and here they are: Rule Number One- Do not use all uppercase letters when typing in your email message. USING ALL UPPERCASE LETTERS in an email message is equivalent to shouting at someone in person. This is considered rude in Internet circles. If you want to make a word or words *stand out*, then you should place an asterisk directly before and directly after the word or group of words. Note the example given. This is an effective as well as proper way of emphasizing your thoughts in your email messages. Rule Number Two- Like a letter that is sent via the traditional snail mail method, or words that are said, once it is sent or they are said, they cannot be retrieved. emails are the same way. Therefore, before you send an electronic message, you should re-read it to make sure that you have said exactly the message that you want to express. You should also spell check the entire document in order to omit any possible spelling errors. That, and it never hurts to check your punctuation as well. Remember that your email message reflects on you as a person. If the spelling is poor, or if the grammar is lacking, then it does not make a good impression on the receiver. This is especially important in conducting business matters via email, but is important in every day email usage too. Rule Number Three- Do not spam. Spamming someone means that you send them advertisements and other forms of junk email to them without their permission. This is not only considered to be rude, but spamming is a major sin in the world of the Internet. Before you send anyone any sort of advertisements for your business, etc., you must first secure their permission. Rule Number Four- Unlike face-to-face communications with another person, email loses the use of bodily gestures, like a smile, a frown, a shrug of the shoulders, or a wink of the eye. To take the place of these gestures, emailers use symbols which are commonly known as emoticons. You can use these within your emails to help communicate your thoughts and feelings. For example, to communicate a smile, simply use a colon, a dash, and a parenthesis like this :-) happy face. Or, a frown would look like this symbol :-( . These are widely known symbols that are used by many and are easy to recognize and understand. A face showing a wink would simply be a colon, a dash, and a semi-colon like this symbol ;-). There are many emoticons to show the other person that you are communicating with a wide-range of the emotions that you are trying to convey. Basically, you must keep in mind that there is a human being at the other end of your email messages. Remember to use the same manners as if you were talking to them in person. For most conversations, you will keep your messages short and to the point too, as it is common for person's eyes to get tired from looking at a computer screen.