How to Practice Email Etiquette

Practicing email etiquette (sometimes called "netiquette") is a great way to keep all of our email boxes uncluttered and help our days run smoothly.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A computer

1. Do not forward jokes without checking with the recipient first. Even then, use discreet. There is no reason to forward every single joke that made it into your inbox. Also, know your audience. Ask yourself if it's a joke that the intended recipient would enjoy. There is nothing worse than opening up your mailbox and seeing that 20 out of the 25 emails your received is a joke that you have already read, do not find funny or both.
   
   Some people use the "forward a joke" technique to say "hi" to their friends. I'm okay with waiting until you actually have something to say.

2. If you are certain that the recipient would appreciate the joke you are about to send, clean it up. I don't mean the language, I mean the line of chevrons (>>>>>>>>>) that happens with some programs. Eventually, the email is forwarded so many times that you wind up with one word per line. If it's important enough to send, it's important enough to reformat so it is easily read. The same goes with the list of email addresses the previous person sent the message to. There is no reason to keep forwarding those when it is so easy to delete them.

3. Before forwarding an email, check to see who has already received it. If you receive a forwarded joke from one of your buddies, chances are everyone in your group has also received it. This is easy enough to check by looking at the list of recipients.

4. Do not forward virus warnings, the President's I.Q. score, promises of Bill Gates giving away money for forwarded emails, etc. without checking the facts. There is enough useless information out there without everyone adding to it. Simply checking with sites such as www.snopes.com will usually tell you the inaccuracy of the information.

5. Never forward chain emails with promises of good luck or threats of bad luck. Adding "I usually don't send these kind of things but I just couldn't take the chance on this one" doesn't excuse it. Live life on the edge and take the chance of not forwarding chain emails. I promise, nothing bad will happen to you.

6. Know how to use "to", "cc" and "bcc". "To" is used when sending an email to a particular person (or people). "Cc" stands for "carbon copy" and is used when someone should be informed but they do not need to act on the information. "Bcc" stands for "blind carbon copy" and it is usually frowned upon. The idea is you have sent the message to someone without the knowledge of the other recipients. While the addresses in "to" and "cc" show up for everyone to see, "bcc" is only shown to the sender.

7. Pay attention to spelling, grammar and punctuation. There is no need to be obsessive about it in a casual email but don't make your recipient play Nancy Drew by figuring out your coded message.

8. Do not type in all upper case letters. This is the equivalent to yelling.

9. Do not email someone when you're mad, especially in business. Sometimes it's best to hold off on an email until you've calmed down. Once you hit "send", it's out there and you can't take it back.

10. Never, ever, even under the threat of bodily harm, send spam.

Resources

• Snopes

[Susanh]

on 2/17/2009 Fantastic tips on "netiquette"!

[maryellen1001]

on 1/30/2009 Great tips! 5*

[easymlmincome]

on 1/25/2009 Very thorough and well written article. Great work - 5*