Quick Guide to Email Etiquette
- Never write an email in ALL CAPS. If you do then people will know you’re stupid, immature and angry.
- When replying or forwarding strip out all RE: and FW: from the subject line. It’s outdated and not necessary. It makes me cringe when I see double and triple RE: RE: FW: in a subject line. It’s ugly, messy and makes you look like an amateur retard when you participate in such foolishness.
- Consider changing the subject line and re-summarizing the conversation when forwarding an email. The new recipient will understand the context better. Never blind forward an email without adding something. It’s just plain rude. If you just hit Ctrl-F to forward it’s like saying … “Fuck you I don’t have time to read this, why don’t you read it for me asshole”.
- Never reply to an old email thread when discussing a new topic. It’s just plain confusing and will make your email less likely to be read.
- Don’t let an email thread get more than 4 or 5 replies long. Consider creating a new thread by updating the topic with a new subject line.
- Consider summarizing the main points of a conversation when a thread is more than 2 replies long. Don’t expect people to scroll down and re-read the thread. It probably won’t happen.
- Channel the Elements of Style. Nobody likes to read a long winded email. Less is better.
- Don’t reply to an email if you can’t take the time to address all of the questions asked of you.
- Don’t email from your iPhone if you can’t take the time to spell and punctuate correctly. One sentence replies that are obviously from a phone are rude and unprofessional.
- When creating an email account always capitalize your first and last “from name”. This is how your name will appear in someone’s inbox. When it’s not capitalized it looks weak, wimpy and unprofessional. joe smith … vs … Joe Smith. Be proud of your name. Capitalize it.
- Don’t use a childish email address like cooldude69@hotmail.com. It’s just stupid. Use an address like joe.smith@gmail.com or better yet register a domain name and use joe@smithfamily.com.
