E-Mail

"Email" is a term that is shorthand for "electronic mail." It is the most utilized online technology. As business, education, and government depend more and more on technology for the transport of information; more and more information is transmitted through "email." As a result, being proficient and professional with email is becoming a requisite for employment. Email may be used to send text, art, text with attached files, or programs through a private network (intranet) or through an Internet service provider (ISP)

Email is routinely used for the transmittal of memos and reports as well as for the transmittal of less formal information. There are some issues about which there is more myth than truth:

1. Email is not a secure form of communication. Any machine through which your message passes enroute to your target is a point where the message can be read. In fact, some businesses routinely copy all employee email as it passes through their server. Email is about as secure as talking to someone on a wireless phone...if someone wants to read it badly enough, they can. Therefore, don't use email for sensitive information.
2. Email is as legally binding as printed communication. Some folks assume that since it's "only email" that they can be a bit more cavalier in their use of language and their approach to the message. You are responsible for what you include in the email. If it would be defamation if it were in a letter; it would be defamation as email.

With those caveats in place, here are some tips to successful, professional email. To begin with, let's take a look at the email address. My email address is : "Sophist@Bigfoot.Com"...Sophist is the username, Bigfoot is the service provider, and "com" is the suffix that explains the type of service it is. Suffixes include:

• EDU (education)
• GOV (government)
• MIL (military)
• COM (commercial)
• ORG (organization...usually non-profit)

Make certain that you have the entire address and that you have typed it correctly. Unlike the United States Postal Service, the Internet won't try to figure out what you meant. It can only go on what you have typed.

When you are composing your message you must tell your email program certain things about the message. (The specifics vary based on the mail program...this is generic information.) First you must type the email address of the recipient. Then you are prompted to type a subject. This is vital as it tells the recipient what the message is about. The subject allows the reader to prioritize messages and to group them by task (it's called threading). If you wish to send copies of the message, type the email address of the recipient(s)of the copy in the CC: space. BC: also sends copies, but that fact is not acknowledged in the message header.

Always identify yourself in the body of the message. Email addresses are notoriously vague. I know many many many kmurphy s. Tell them who you are.

Identify the purpose of the email. Tell them why you are writing.

Be CLEAR AND PRECISE. Long emails defeat the purpose. Some servers even reject long messages. Cut to the chase and be clear.

Remember they can't see or hear you. Email writers often assume that the recipient knows that they are "just kidding" or that the message is "a joke." Email is emotionally neutral. The reader has to interpret the emotions from the words, so subtlety doesn't work. Nor does sarcasm. Some users rely on "emoticons" to display emotional context, but these aren't universal ;). REMEMBER THAT THIS IS SHOUTING!!!! So don't touch the caps lock key. Typing in all caps will often get you "flamed" when other users remind you, in a not so subtle way, of the proper netiquette.

Check Spelling and Grammar. It is just as important here as it is in a memo or report.

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