At the risk of sounding like your third grade teacher, I'm going to explicate on the nuances of email etiquette. This medium of communication is just too important and ubiquitous in our personal and business lives, to ignore. We need to think a little bit more about what we compose every day on that screen that most of us sit in front of every day.

Back to Basics

If at all possible use addresses and personal names, which can be attached to your e-mail as a textual comment. They identify you better than your email address can on its own. For example "Bill Jones" jonesy@yahoo.com is going to say more than just jonesy@yahoo.com. Try to use a reasonable personal name and avoid clever phrases such as "Red Hot Lover", which may get in the way of quick recognition.

Try to use at least passable grammar and spelling. (I told you I'd sound like your old third grade teacher). Poorly-worded and misspelled messages can be hard to read and potentially confusing. The most language- mangling I have ever witnessed has been in e-mail messages.

Below is an email that a college student on Oahu sent to her lecturer. It's a great example of how not to write an email - the problems are too obvious to even explain.

"Aloha,
Hey Girlie, sorry i'll have to miss today due yo an unexpected
appointment in pearl city. I was going to drop mmy assidnment off
with someone but i was sort of hesitant that it wasn't going to raech you. if you have any questions reach me at
Aloha!"

Needless to say, this message, however well intended, didn't do much to improve the student's image.

Forwarding mail

How many times have you received your office mate Bernie's latest off color jokes when you really weren't interested? The message is when forwarding email, think carefully about whether the recipient will actually appreciate it. My rule of thumb is that if a message (such as a chain letter) requests that you forward it to other people, it's almost always a good reason not to do so. There are a number of phony chain letters that have made the rounds over the years such as the heart-rending saga of the ailing child who wants to set a record for the most e-mail greeting cards received before he dies. (People who perpetrate these should really get a life!) My rule is always ask before sending something incidental like a joke or chain letter. You may help save a friendship.

"Smiley faces" (Emoticons)

Electronic mail has immediacy but is totally devoid of "body language". The Internet has an answer to this issue - "smiley faces", or groups of ASCII characters that are meant to look like a face turned on its side. (I find emoticons useful for personal email but generally not in business.)

The most common smiley faces are probably these:

:-) or :)
A smiling face seen sideways; generally used to indicate glee, or that a comment is intended to be funny

:-( or :(
An unhappy face; generally used to express disappointment or sorrow.

;-)
A winking smiley face; usually indicates that something should be taken "with a grain of salt".

;->
A mischievous smiley face; usually indicates that a comment is intended to be provocative or racy.

Conclusion

Above all, email is about communication. Before sending a message, reread it and ask yourself what your reaction would be if you received it. Remember also that it may get filed away in someone's computer for a long time - so think twice before you hit that enter key.

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