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E-mail etiquette is too
important to ignore

At the risk of sounding like your third-grade teacher, I'm going to explicate a bit more on the nuances of e-mail 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.

» 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 e-mail 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 e-mail that a college student on Oahu sent to her lecturer. It's a great example of how not to write an e-mail -- 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.

» "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 characters that are meant to look like a face turned on its side. (I find emoticons useful for personal e-mail 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.

Above all, e-mail 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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