E-Mail Etiquette: The Do's and Don'ts

Timely Advice From The Authors Of A Guide To Better E-Mails

(CBS)  Both Schwalbe and Shipley say e-mail is still relatively young as a means of communication, which means we're all still working out the kinks. When the telegraph or telephone first came out, they were misused, too. You shouldn't be afraid of e-mail, the authors say: You just need to tame it by avoiding what they call the deadly sins…such as:

1. The e-mail that's unbelievably vague ("REMEMBER TO DO THAT THING!").

2. The e-mail that's cowardly ("HERE'S THE THING: YOU'RE FIRED.")

3. The e-mail that won't go away ("FW: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: THAT THING")

The main point being: THINK BEFORE YOU SEND.

What about colorful fonts? "Not okay."

Exclamation marks? "If you're being even the slightest bit angry, sarcastic or insulting, which we don't suggest anyways, exclamation points make it horrible," said Schwalbe. "But if it's casual, if it's to a friend, three, four, five, six, seven, you know, it's fun. Why not? But, certainly in a formal situation you want to limit."

What about emoticons? Little happy faces? People get pretty clever with some of this stuff.

"Will and I sort of started out this project and correct me if I'm wrong, we had the feeling that emoticons are really best left at an earlier stage of emotional development," said Shipley. "You know, somewhere around middle school. And we were just looking at them, and we became increasingly amused and happy and drawn to them. And then we thought, "Okay, well, this here is legitimate to insert tone in an e-mail."

According to the authors, that intended tone can easily be misconstrued in e-mail; that's also when proper punctuation and grammar come in handy. For example: "No. Thanks to you!!" as opposed to: "No thanks to you!!" You do have to be careful when writing emotional e-mails, though on the positive side, 15 percent of Americans know someone who has e-mail to thank for a long-term relationship or marriage.

Would either of the authors encourage the use of e-mail for a romance?

"Absolutely, in a limited way," said Shipley. "E-mail is a terrific icebreaker. And you know, the protection that a computer offers can sometimes promote cowardice. But it can also give you sort of the necessary romantic cover to begin to bear your soul to someone."

TV reporter Shanon Cook had her life altered through e-mail — it's how she met her future husband.

"When I received an e-mail from him, the first thing I thought was, 'how lame,'" Cook said. "This guy works fifty feet from my desk and he's e-mailing me?"

Her now-husband Daniel asked, "Looking back now, would you say I was more of a coward or a poet?"

"I would say you were more of a cowardly poet!" she replied.

See? I did say that e-mail can be great ... Sometimes an e-mail don't can turn into an I do.

[oleander8]

Promotion of an unnecessary book - not news or newsworthy.

[jw218389]

This is a GREAT ADVERTISEMENT for the author of the book!!!

No substance just fluff!!!!

[horse3farm]

Schwalbe and Shipley.....

Find another job.

[hellojenil]

I just had to comment on the advice the two guys were giving on email. 1. the pause before sending advice was twisted, i will have to rewind the tape and hear it again to understand what he said. (although I do agree to think before you send) 2. Fonts and colors, I do believe it is okay to use different fonts as long as you are consevative with them, there are some good fonts out there that can get a reader's attention. 3. Also I use a dark blue color in all my business emails, it separates the forwarded messages and a light blue on action items.
I don't think those two guys were expert enought to give advice on your article and your article could have used more details. Shame on you CBS Sunday morning!

[doriweb]

I enjoyed the twist at the end as I watched the email story, except when the "reveal" occurred and you couldn't see the face of the reporter. I don't watch on a regular basis, so I didn't know who this guy was, and I wanted to see him.

[johnf4270]

Not enough useful/detailed info. in this article. It seemed like all-fluff!

[Geneius]

rf35:

Guess I'll have to get another spell checker. Mine must not even be basic.

[rf35]

I can't BARE much more of this!

[rf35]

E-Mail Etiquette: The Do's and Don'ts

"But it can also give you sort of the necessary romantic cover to begin to bear your soul to someone."


What ever happened to proof reading?! And even a basic computer spell checker would catch "Don'ts." When mistakes like this show up in an article, the credibility of the author becomes questionable.

[Geneius]

How about these people who forward everything as an attachment? I have received email that was six attachments deep. If you want to forward something, forward it inline and not as an attachment.

[CBSTV]

How about the "dos and don'ts" of headline writing? I do not believe an apostrophe belongs in the plural of the word "do" -- it is not possessive.

[michellem99-2009]

I look for the 5 Ws and 1 H when reading news stories. They are WHO,WHAT, WHEN,WHERE,WHY and HOW. I learnt them in high shcool newspaper class in 1970s and they work for cyberspace as well.The first and 2rd paragraphs.

[maryflorita]

TOO BORING....LEARNED -0-......A WASTE OF TIME AND YOU GET PAID FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[michellem99-2009]

I may be one as I grew up with pen and pen. I am in my 50s and do have computer books for platform am using. We did not have what the young now have access to. As a visually and hearing handicapped, I wish they would be mindful of their fort size when writing. I had to tell MSN this and those I write this. So we have seniors,legally blind,others could use it..Manners don't go out of style.*That's not our world*.PLEASE and THANK YOU is .Rudeness is not.I have not seen the book in the story at the stores.I will add the book if I can find it at stores. I do read.

[erasmus6]

I'm thinkin' someone has too much time on their hands!!!!!!!:):):):)

[dudley_plotz]

Bear your soul? Ugh!