I receive many emails--some of them from friends, and a lot of spam. I don't like spam. Spam is very frustrating.
However, one problem I have from time-to-time involves some friends who either do not know, or maybe, do not care very much to learn some basics rules of etiquette (net-etiquette) about emails, attachments, forwards, and other matters involving email.
May I make a few suggestions which can help to stop frustrating me and your friends when you send emails? It takes just a few moments to learn these basic matters, and it can help to avoid having your emails trashed as soon as they arrive in the recipients’ email “Inbox.”
1. Learn how to use the Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc) feature of your email program when addressing emails to more than one person, or to many people. If you do not know what “Bcc” is, ask someone who can explain it to you. There are very clear instructions on how to set up and use “Bcc” in your email program. Please show your intelligence by reading the “Help” section of your email program. Use the “Bcc” category to put in all the email addresses of the recipients of your email. Most folks who receive emails from you do not want, nor do they need, to see the 25 to 50 or more email addresses of other people to whom you send a particular email.
Added to that, some folks do not want other people seeing and knowing their email address when you include it with many other people’s email addresses. It is a matter of personal privacy. “Bcc” helps to avoid other recipients seeing all the other email addresses of the recipients of a particular email. It gives privacy. Also, some underhanded people gather email addresses when the “Bcc” is not used and they abuse the lists that are visible. They spam others, and sometimes they use it to commit crimes against those whose email addresses they have “harvested.” So, if you put 20 to 30 email addresses in the “To” or the “Cc” section of an email, everyone who receives that email sees all the other addresses. It also takes up a lot of extra space in the recipients’ email. I do not particularly like everyone in the world seeing my email address. It is only the business of those whom I wish to have it. So, if you are too lazy (or just don’t care) to learn how to set up and use Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc), then I humbly ask that you not send any emails to me that have numerous email recipients that are visible to all.
2. A second problem with some emails is receiving emails with attachments or messages that have been forwarded several times. By the time I receive it, I have the numerous lists of email addresses of people I do not know. This is the result of previous senders forwarding emails without the use of the Blind Carbon Copy feature! If each person who receives an email and wishes to forward the email would take the time to delete all previous email lists from all the previous “forwarders” prior to sending it to me, then the email would arrive fairly clean.
3. But, that is only one problem with receiving “forwarded” emails with attachments or messages. The other problem in receiving the attachments is that by the time I receive many of them they have been forwarded four or five times. Now, I have to wade through trying open a fifth- generation attachment. This takes a few minutes. If you think an attachment is worth sending to someone else, why not take a few minutes to show me that it is worth having me receive it and open it? Why not take that attachment and stop the “forwarding” of an email that has been “forwarded” to you. Make a new attachment with it directly from your own email program as though it is a new email. Then, when I receive it, I can open it on the first or second click of my mouse. Honestly, when I receive a fourth or fifth generation forwarded attachment, I usually just trash it without opening it! I do not have the time nor desire to mess with it! And, that applies to almost everyone. I just trash it. I feel that if an attachment or message is worth sending it is worth cleaning up and making it look like a first generation message. You can still give credit to the originator of it.
4. Some attachments contain viruses or Trojan horses. This is another reason that I rarely open an attachment that is several generations old. I will trash it without opening it. The only time I might open a new email with a first generation attachment is that I know the sender personally, and know that the attachment is clean.
5. Another problem with forwarded emails is that after so many times of forwarding it, it will have all those “forwarding” symbols on it, such as vertical lines on the left of the email message, or the “>” symbol vertically on the left side of the message. If I wish to use that article or message, then I have to copy it to my document program in Microsoft Word, then go through the process of deleting the symbols and reformatting the entire article to make it suitable for further use. What a waste of time!
6. Another email problem is that of sending attachments that are too big. Many of us live in certain areas of the world (and some even in the USA) who still use a “dial-up” modem to connect to the internet. Dial-up connections are usually quite slow. Not everyone has a high-speed connection that downloads emails with large attachments quickly. When you open the email program in a “dial-up” situation (such as I have), and the new emails begin to enter the “Inbox,” sometimes there may be 10 emails trying to come in. After a few minutes one begins to notice that the new emails appear to have stalled, or are very slow coming in. A check reveals that a second or third email in the list of new incoming emails is still in the process of entering your email program in your computer. This can only mean one thing—“someone” has sent an email with a huge attachment! I have sat and waited for 15 minutes or longer for an email to arrive just because someone decided I needed to have a series of photos or some unique message that was 5 Megabytes (MB) (over 5,000 kilobytes-kb) or larger! This clogs up a person’s emails, and it is very impolite and time consuming. We are talking about “Net-Etiquette” here, right?
An email attachment often does not need to be larger than 300 kilobytes (kb). In fact, that size can be large on “dial-up.” If you start to attach something to an email and your email client/program shows that it is 500kb to 1oookb or more, you need to warn the recipient that it is coming, or find a new way to communicate what is in that attachment. What can one do? One answer is to have one’s own website, free blog site, or free photo site (such as FLICKR) where such photos or other types of attachments can be uploaded by you and viewed by others without using an email to transfer it. Then, all you have to do is just send an email to your friends and say that you have just uploaded some new photos to your site, and you would appreciate it if they would view them when they have time. Give them the URL of your site, and let them go to it and see what you are trying to show them. If they wish to download the photos, etc., they can do so at their own leisure.
7. Another concern is that of sending an email message using all upper case (capital) letters in the email. Such emails are very hard to read. But, as some have said, when using all upper case letters, it is the equivalent of shouting to the recipient. So, let’s not shout, okay?
8. One matter that causes trouble is sending a message that is very private or personal, and expecting that the recipient(s) will not send it to anyone else. It has happened that one has sent emails that contained very private, and personal information, or volatile information to others who they thought were trustworthy, only to learn that such recipients have made public that very private information! Don’t be foolish nor naïve! If a matter is personal, then speak confidentially by phone or in person to those with whom you wish to communicate. The internet is no place to be sending highly classified, confidential information. If it CAN be made public, it just might come back to “bite” you! You might be surprised how fast something can be forwarded around the world! The result can be very embarrassing to you, the sender. It could sow discord among brethren, destroy the good name of another, or be slanderous.
9. Another potential problem with emails is assuming that the sender is trying to say something to you in a harsh or reprimanding tone. We, then, take offense at the email or the sender, when the sender was simply providing information in an objective, sensible, and kind manner. Sometimes we tend to read something into an email, and what we read into it may be based on our own personal feelings, attitudes, or disposition, at the time. And, we may be mistaken! Then, we fire back a quick, harsh retort. Then, a war starts where none was ever intended. Be cool!
We need to be more considerate of one another in the matter of sending emails. Let’s be more thoughtful. Try following the “Golden Rule” in this matter just as you would in other matters.
SPW
