Email Etiquette
Some emails are so easy to read and others are so hard to read I don't even try.
Easy to read emails don't have a lot of junk in the body of the email. There are no forwards that include dozens of other folks email addresses and none of those >>> inserted at the beginning of each line. If only email writers would just learn a few editing tricks, all emails would be easier to read.
One thing that makes an email hard for me to read is everything is written in capitol letters. This is the equivalent of shouting and is considered rude by many people. I consider it un-informed.
I don't want to see all those email addresses where the email was previously sent. It makes the email harder to read if I have to scroll through all of those forwards and it also exposes email addresses that could eventually fall into the hands of spammers. This can be avoided by 'cleaning' the email and by using the BCC option for sending email to more than one person.
It's really easy to remove those >>> that appear in so many forwarded email. You can use Email Stripper or just use notepad. To prevent your Outlook Express from adding those >>> to your forwarded email, edit the option in Send.
I really hate to receive emails saying 'Send this to everyone you know'. It is usually a hoax, but it might be saying all sorts of bad stuff will happen to you if you don't send it. Guess I am living dangerously, because I delete those messages unless it is a hoax. I reply to hoax messages with references that explain the hoax. If you receive a virus warning or a story about an incident that sounds bizarre or sad, before you forward it on check to see if it is a hoax!
Before you forward all those jokes, be sure that everyone on your forward list really wants to receive them! Some people don't have time for all that nonsense.
Email Help "It is not the intention of this page to answer questions about the technical aspects of email programs; this page is intended to address the "way of using (and not-using) e-mail". (I really like this page!)
One of my very favorite newsletters, TechTrax, has a wonderful article about inconsiderate e-mailers, you can read it in the February 2006 issue, Dian's Soapbox page.