Email Etiquette

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Announcement! Emails are not text messages.

Did I just change your life? No? Good. That should not be an earth shaking announcement for anyone. If you’re a functioning individual in the cyber world you should be well versed in internet manners.

What we really need is the Emily Post of Email etiquette.

So, surprise, surprise, my topic for the rant of the week is the growing inappropriate use of the CC function and all other Email faux pas. Let me break it down, if not with the eloquence of Miss. Post than at least with the bluntness of the twenty-first century.

1) If you’re going to replay to my lengthy and well thought out Email with “Got it. Thanks.” don’t CC everyone. Don’t hit replay all. My inbox doesn’t need it. All the other people who received the original Email don’t need it. No one needs it.

2) Just because you have a smart phone does not mean Emails and text messages are interchangeable. We have these two different mediums because they serve two different functions. Text messages are social, casual, short, and often used to convey a quick idea. Emails are more formal (but please people there is never an excuse for stuffy), a bit longer, and should have some sort of valid point or piece of critical information. The lesson learned here is they should not be treated in the same way. Even if you can access them both quickly on your super cool iphone…

3) Finally, in true Miss. Manners fashion a nugget of wisdom: A tidy inbox makes for a tidy life. Your Email provider has all these nifty functions. Like folders. Embrace them. The cyber gods gave them to us so we could use them, be more organized, and less stressed.

I’m leaving you now with words of someone infinitely wiser then myself- from Emily’s lips to your ear: “Alas! It is true: Be polite to bores and so shall you have bores always round about you.”

Once again the soap box is safely stowed…for awhile anyway. Enjoy the reprieve!