We send hundreds of e-mails a week, and our shrinking messages are filled with misspellings, riddled with incomplete thoughts, and crammed with acronyms.

Technology has made e-mail quick and easy, but just like letters, our e-mails say a lot about us.

That’s why it’s important to keep up on our e-mail etiquette, or “netiquette.” Here are a few quick, simple netiquette tips to help you as you’re typing out all those e-mails.

Don’t e-mail in anger

One of the best tips I ever received is never send an e-mail when you are angry or upset. Sometimes, you get so worked up, you want to sit down and pound out a forceful, heated e-mail. But that solves nothing. If I am upset or angry, I feel better after typing out my thoughts, but I do the typing in a Word document, which I then delete.

Put the subject in the subject line

Make sure your subject line focuses on the e-mail subject and grabs the reader’s attention. While friendly, a subject line such as “Hello” or “Good morning” tells the reader nothing about why I am e-mailing them. Even if I’m sending an e-mail to somebody I know, a clear subject line gives my reader a reason to read.

Keep your messages clear

E-mails should be clear and concise. Lengthy e-mails can leave the reader with a headache. Worse yet, they just won’t read the whole message and could skip what you think is most important. Keep sentences short and limit paragraphs to about six sentences.

Tell recipients about attachments

When you send attachments, notify the recipient in the e-mail and give the attachment a file name that is practical and pertains to the e-mail subject. Most computer viruses are still spread through attachments, so make sure your reader knows you’re sending a legitimate file, not an infected mess. Likewise, if somebody sends you an attachment you didn’t expect, send that person an e-mail asking her to confirm that she sent it before you open it.

Of course, there are many more tips and entire books on netiquette, but if you begin with these tips, your e-mail recipients will be grateful.

Natalie Federer, neferer@purdue.edu
 
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