Holiday Park Computer Club

 

Email Etiquette

A recent article by this title in a Macworld magazine reminded me I wanted to put some pointers on this site.  So here are a few highlights as well as some of my own in no particular order. 

  1. •  When you write, be polite.  You never know who will read your email.


  1. •  Never write using capitals.  If you need larger print, change the font to a larger size.   Using capitals in an email is like YELLING.  Use only one explanation mark for the same reason!!!!!!!!!    (pardon the examples.)


  1. •  Sending an email to more than one person?  Consider the following: 

  2. •  Always use BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) so folks will not see a long list of email addresses.   Lots of folks want to keep their email address private, and not have it get in the hands of spammers.   Also,  if the email is going to a service like Pocket Mail, or to a phone,  no one wants to scroll through a lot of email addresses to get the message.  They may give up before they get to it.

  3. •  Do not automatically forward an email to everyone in your contact list.   Consider to whom you are sending the email.  What one person thinks is cute, may offend another.  Maybe they are already getting the same forwards from others.  The best way is to first ask if the friend or family member would like to receive these from you from time to time.  Then make a separate group.   You might end up with a few groups, but it will be worthwhile in the long run.

  4. •   Learn how to clean up the email you want to forward.   i.e. Take out those lists of email addresses that someone else left in, also the advertising that gets duplicated at the bottom.  One ad is not so bad, but when the same ad appears 3 or 5 times ...    It just takes up more cyberspace and looks cluttered. 


  1. •  Many people forward emails without checking their validity.  I don’t mean jokes or stories, I don’t expect them to be true.  Emails that purport to be the truth about something or someone and are not, has caused the rumour mill to expanded greatly.   Before you embarrass yourself,  check it out on www.truthorfiction.com  or  www.snopes.com.  Or find other sources to check it.   Some false emails have been circulating for years.  i.e. the Postcard virus.  At least, that one just takes up a lot of time (people reading it) and cyberspace, sending it on.  But some are about missing persons who are no longer missing and can affect the families involved. 


  1. •  Want to filter out some of the forwards you get?   Most email clients (mail program) have a feature often called rules or filters to send emails containing certain words or topics right to the trash.  

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