Comments on: E-mail etiquette (a tad rant-ish)

By: Becca

Becca — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:35:48 +0000

Oh, I have a nightmare story about this.

Every year, a freshman ends up mass-emailing the entire campus. It happens, usually with one or two reply-alls, an email from the tech department reminding us not to mass e-mail, and everyone’s happy.

Not this year. There were over 30 reply-alls in one evening, and no one ever deleted the previous messages, so the entire directory of 2500+ students, faculty, and administration was copied four or five times in an email. Our email system was pretty much unusable for the rest of the night. It was completely ridiculous.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:21:02 +0000

Thanks for this post! It really irks me when people send me jokes, feel-good stories, and e-mails that say that I must forward them or something bad will happen to me. These e-mails have been forwarded so many times that hundreds of people’s e-mail addresses are listed in the “to” box. I have politely told people before that I would not like to receive these e-mails, but I still get them. If I have a funny joke or nice story, I may send it to a few friends, but I don’t feel the need to subject everyone in my contact list to it. People should think, “will this e-mail interest this person” before they send something. I agree 100% with what you said.

By: Amy Derby

Amy Derby — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:10:20 +0000

I recently received a similar mailing — one I had no interest in — which was sent to a long list of people all in the “to” line. One of the reasons I stopped participating in discussion groups that don’t offer a digest option is I was tired of getting nine thousand emails from people saying “LOL” and “me, too” even though they were fully aware that their messages went to everyone on the friggen list. It’s seriously annoying when someone does it as spam, and that’s what I’d consider that sort of thing. In summary, I feel your pain. Good rant.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:24:54 +0000

Great article! When sending to more than ONE person I will usually put my own email in the To and BCC everyone else. As others have mentioned … it is not right to give out others email address without their permission.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:45:41 +0000

My pet peeve is that most of us should realize email is not as reliable as the phone, and in sticky situations (when possible) talk, don’t type.

If it’s really important, time sensitive or might cause a misunderstanding, think about picking up the phone and calling.

And one other “rule” I follow. Never email something you are not willing to say in person.

By: Martin GK

Martin GK — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:11:47 +0000

Even within a business framework, I would suggest watching who you cc to. I call it ccitis – a new business disease! It’s the wish to cc an email to a vast list of people who are only tangentially interested, if that, in what the email is about. The excuse is always “just for your information” or “just to make you aware of it”. What it actually does is to erode your confidence in any emails from the sender, such that when they finally send you a cc on one that actually is relevant to you, you tend to ignore it. I have an personal rule that I’ll never cc to more than four people unless the circumstances absolutely demand it. The more you target, the more attention your target pays you…or something like that!

By: Debra

Debra — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 15:39:40 +0000

Hoorah!!! Well said.

I’d add: Think about what you put in an email – once you’ve hit send you cant control where it will be forwarded to.

By: Annie Walker

Annie Walker — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 20:21:34 +0000

I’m bad. I did the “To:” thing last week. In my defence I hadn’t quite realised how the program I was using would respond to the list I’d set up, but as soon as I’d hit “send”, I realised what I’d done.

Why don’t I ever realise *before* I hit “send”?

Does my guilt help to absolve me?

By: Jenna

Jenna — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:41:20 +0000

Amen to this! People seem to forget anything related to etiquette the moment their browser or email program opens.

ESPECIALLY when mailing multiple people; I almost always use BCC. I feel wrong sharing someone’s email address with other people (even if I know they know each other in some medium or another – I have no way of knowing they’ve shared that personal contact info). That’s akin to giving out someone’s phone number without asking permission.

The only time I use CC: is at work, when I want the TO: recipient to know that someone else is in on the information.

By: Mari

Mari — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:48:52 +0000

:applause: :applause: