Writing Email is not like anything else.

It is not like writing letters or memos. A whole set of conventions has grown up to make email writing easier, and the resulting email easier to understand.

Email Tips :  Grammar and Style    Good Things To Do    Email Conventions at Lancaster   

Safety Issues :  'Flame Wars'    Manners    News Groups & Mail Lists    Scams & Phishing    Spam

Related Topics : Safe Social Networking

Writing Good Email

The good thing about email is that it is quick. The bad thing about email that it has to be 'basic' - because not all email systems support formatted text.

General Tips 

Don't Be Rude

Brevity may be the soul of wit, but sending one word answers can seem very rude, and lose all meaning.

Spell Well

Email is often typed in a hurry so that typos and spelling errors go unnoticed - except by the recipient. Use a spell checker and then check the message through again 'manually' for the 'there' instead of 'their' type errors.

Good Use of the Shift Key

Remember to use capital letters at the beginning of sentences and for proper nouns, place names and days of the week.

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Punctuation Tips 

Use the usual rules of punctuation apply, but due to the 'text only' nature of much email the follow email conventions also apply:

• be aware that the recipient's mail reader will 'break' line in a different places.
• don't use square brackets [ ] or braces { } instead of parentheses ( ).
• use straight 'quotes' rather than ‘curly’ quotes.
• use ampersands (&) where possible.
• don't overuse exclamation marks!!!
• when making a statement you are not sure about follow it with !?
• don't use backslash (\) instead of forward slash(/).
• use asterisks or underscores on each side of _funny_ words for *emphasis* (underscores seem to get most people's *vote*).

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Grammar Tips

The usual rules of English apply. May I take the liberty of
summarising them thus:

• sentences should contain a single point.
• paragraphs contain sentences that contribute towards a single thought.
• an email document should never be so long that it contains unrelated ideas. Send separate messages for different subjects.

The following is not a rule of English but follows on from the above.

• an email message should preferably printout on one side of A4.

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Keep It Simple

• try to use a single tense.

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About 'Flames'

'Flames' are angry emails or 'Internet rage'. 'Flame' messages are not nice to receive. To avoid getting people's backs up, you should try to avoid asking questions the recipient has been asked a hundred times before. If a FAQ note is available on the topic, read it.

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Style Tips

• don't write long screeds of text that wander off-topic - be brief without being curt.
• don't use ALL CAPS - on the Internet using all caps is commonly regarded as 'shouting'. ALL CAPS is also hard to read. Using all caps is a quick way into a 'flame' argument.
• when replying don't automaticaly include the entire back history of the email message - many email programs make it easy to include the message but the replies can easily get over long. If the message is getting long (and the history is not required as a 'record'), edit out the non-relevant parts of the original message.

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Manners

• respond promptly - if you can't answer straight away, it is polite to email them with words to that effect.
• choose a subject line that relates to the content of your message.
• re-read the message before pressing send - re-reading puts you in the recipients place and you may detect where you have been over brief and sound curt.
• never email something you wouldn't say to the recipient's face.
• don't criticise other people harshly, assume that the email will be forwarded to them and will be read by them.
• never forward email to other people without their permission - unless it is common practice within your group.
• treat everyone on the net as a human being - no matter how remote people seem, everyone deserves respect.

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Good Things To Do

• when replying include a chunk of the original message - replying to a message with just "I don't think so" can be confusing even with a relevant subject line.
• check your email everyday - if you don't respond fairly quickly you 'sound' at best unresponsive at worst dead or rude.
• make sure your from line is correct - if your mailer allows you to edit your 'from line' and 'return address' - make sure yours is correct so that mail does not go astray.
• create a 'signature' - most email programs allow you to create a few lines of text that appear at the end of every email. You can use your signature to provide contact information.

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Some Don'ts

• do not assume that all recipients can see formatted (bold, italic or coloured) text. Many email programs see 'text only' and some people deliberately configure their email programs to see 'text only'. 'Text Only' mail readers will see all the text but not see any formatting.
• don't create bulky signatures. Big signatures can make you seem officious or big headed and they distract the reader from your email message.
• avoid using graphics, including logos, in your messages. Graphics take up a lot of space and many people are short of quota.
• don't assume the sex of the recipient - because of the initial.surname nature of many email addresses it often impossible to tell the gender of a person from an email address.
• avoid profanity and sexual innuendo.

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The Internet is a Dangerous Place

This section relates to the various threats posed by Viruses, Spam and Scams.

• do not open unsolicited attachments (even from friends) - they are likely to be viruses.
• never respond to emails asking you for your account details (of any kind) - these are Phishing.
• never reply to 'get rich quick' emails, these will ask for 'money up front' and are Internet Scams.
• don't forward (or mail round) virus warnings - many of these are Internet Hoaxes and real ones will not be believed.
• don't forward begging letters - many of these are Scams and real ones won't be believed.
• don't mass mail lists of Internet jokes - these clog up the email systems and may cause offense.

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Problems With Attachments

Problem: I’m being prevented from sending a file as an attachment in an email.

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News Groups And Email Lists 

Using email you can join 'Email Lists' and 'News Groups'. All the hints and tips apply 'double' when conversing with people from 'News Groups' and 'Email Lists' because you will have little idea of who you are 'talking' to.

Lurking

To find out what they are about and what sort of people use them you should spend some time 'lurking'. Lurking is the practice of reading news (groups or letters) without contributing. It is also a good idea to read FAQs.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ is short for Frequently Asked Questions. When you join a news group, or any other of the 'club' like areas on the net, there will be a FAQ file.

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Mass Mail Lists

You need to be careful when you send or receive messages from a 'mail list'.

Receiving Message From a list

• be careful when you reply to a 'named' list - your reply will go to everyone on the list.
• do NOT 'Reply All' to lists with trivial messages.

Sending Mass Mail

• it is good practice to put mail lists in the BCC* field. This prevents 'reply all' going to everyone and protects the privacy of list members.

*BCC stands for 'Blind Carbon Copy and needs to switched in some email programs. Look in the 'View' menu for the option.

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Spam

There is a lot of 'unsolicited advertising email' known as Spam (after the Monty Python sketch) circulating. To avoid getting Spam don't acknowledge it in any way. If the Spammer doesn't know you exist your address becomes less valuable and less used:

• don't reply to Spam.
• don't click on unsubscribe lines (they are fake).
• don't open Spam.
• delete Spam.

Email Address Safety

Take care how you post your email address. Spammers can harvest addresses from News Groups and send you unsolicited email. For tips on how to disguise your email address browse to About Spam.

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Acknowledgements

Many thanks are due to my colleague Graeme Hughes for 'getting me started', and to Ted Alsach writing in 'Internet Email - Quick Tour', for the structure of the article and some of the content.

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