E-mail Etiquette
Anyone can easily forward your message, even accidentally. This could leave you in an embarrassing position if you divulged confidential information, made a nasty comment about someone or circulated an off-color joke. If you don't want to potentially share something you write, consider using the telephone.
7.Use a smiley to make sure that a statement is not misunderstood.Smileys are typically used in personal e-mail and are not considered appropriate for business. Insert them judiciously in office e-mail. If your message needs a smiley for better understanding, most likely you should not be delivering it via e-mail. Even with a smiley, someone may misconstrue your message.
Use smileys to support a statement. It's rude to write something mean or derogatory, then place a happy smiley at the end of the sentence. Refer to the Smiley article for a list of commonly used ones.
8.Avoid sending e-mail to large numbers of people unless you have a legitimate reason to do it.E-mail sent to many recipients may be considered spam.
9. Avoid nasty e-mail.These messages have their own term: flame. Flame e-mail is an insulting message designed to cause pain, as when someone "gets burned."
10.Include your name at the bottom of the message.
The message contains your e-mail address in the header, but the recipient may not know that the sender's address is yours, especially if it's different from your real name.
E-mail etiquette may take a while to learn, but don't let your fear of making mistakes inhibit you. All Internet users were beginners once, so most people are quite forgiving.
Learn more: Netiquette: Rules of the Road
Last update: Jan 11, 2011
