e-mail and internet etiquettes

E-mail and internet etiquetteGC108 Professional PracticesSpring ‘12

E-mail and internet etiquette

• E-mail etiquetteWhat makes email differentTipsAnatomyConsiderations

• Internet etiquette

E-mail etiquette

Part-IMs. Rubina SheikhRegistration number:Class:

E-mail etiquette is evolving

• E-mail has quickly become a communication standard and the Internet’s most popular application. Both the number of e-mail users and the usage rates are continuing to grow exponentially.

• Right now Online writing is pretty much in its Wild West stage, a free- for-all with everybody shooting from the hip and no sheriff in sight

What makes email different?

• No nonverbal cues, which account for 65 - 93 percent of message

• Only words and :-)

• Tone becomes crucial

– In Germany and Britain, 23 percent and 14 percent respectively [of respondents to a Daily Mail survey] admitted confrontations with colleagues because of e-mail misunderstandings

http://www.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/09/15/email.sins/index.html

Tone: Example One

To: Female employees From: H. HonchoRe: Dress codeDate: 1 July 2006

Clients will be visiting next week. Halter tops and jeans will not make the right impression. It’s time you started dressing for the office instead of the beach. Leave your flip-flops at home!

Tone: Example two

To: All staffFrom: H. HonchoRe: Reminder about what to wear to work Date: 1 July 2006

During the summer, our dress code is business casual. We think “business casual” means clothes that feel comfortable and look professional.

Men Women•khaki pants •casual pants and skirts•leather shoes… •leather or fabric shoes…

Tips: Tone

• Avoid terseness, which can be misinterpreted

• Use face-to-face communication if issue is sensitive

• Read your emails aloud, looking for ambiguity

• Rob Glaser asked to meet with Bill Gates• Gates said no, in a “cold and flip email”• Glazer denounced Microsoft at anti-trust

hearings– “Would a smiley face have saved Gates from

Glaser’s damaging testimony? We’ll never know.” Glaser, a former MS employee, was CEO of RealNetworks.

Humor is Riskier

• Nearly a quarter of employees have suffered problems with colleagues or clients because their use of humor in an email has not been understood or appreciated, according to a survey.– Robert Jacques, “Email Jokes Backfire for UK

Workers” (2004)

• Participants [in recent studies] were able to accurately communicate humor and sarcasm in barely half -- 56 percent -- of the emails they sent.– “Avoiding Email Catastrophes,”

Tips: Humor

• If in doubt, don’t send it.

– Chevron was forced to pay $2.2 million to settle a harassment case based in part on emails with such subjects as “Why beer is better than women.”

• Reread for ambiguities.

• Signal the joke.– One emoticon or <grin> per email is plenty.

Levels of formality

• Most people view email as – more formal than a phone call – less formal than a letter

Meeting request: Informal

From: Bob Anderson <anderson@rand-unix>Date: 21 Dec 84 11:40:12 PST (Fri)To: randvax!anderson, randvax!gillogly,

randvax!normSubject: meeting ...

we need to setup a meeting bet. jim you and i -- can you arange?

i'm free next wed. thks.

Levels of formality

Meeting agenda: formal

Subject: MEETING ON FY86 PLANNING, 2PM 12/28/84, CONFERENCE ROOM 1

There will be a meeting of the FY86 planning task force in Conference Room 1 on December 28, 1984 at 2pm. The Agenda for the meeting is:

--------------------------------------- Topic Presenter Time

--------------------------------------- Strategic Business Plan John Fowles 30 min.

Budget Forecast for FY86 Sue Martin 15 " New Product Announcements Peter Wilson 20 " Action Items for 1st Qtr FY86 Jane Adamson 25 "

-----------------------------------------------------------

Tip: Spelling still counts

This is an actual email.

Purposal

I can beat almost anyones price and almost promise you success and if I don’t reach it, we wont charge you after the time we say we can achieve it until we do.

Tip: Spelling still counts

• Sloppiness is one of “seven deadly e-mail sins”

• Bad grammar, misspelling and disconnected arguments gave 81 percent of the survey sample "negative feelings" towards the senders.

• 41 percent of senior managers said badly worded e-mails implied laziness and even disrespect.

Tip: Level of Formality

• When in doubt, err on the side of formality.– Usually the problem is that we treat [e-mail] too

much like a phone call and not enough like a letter.• O’Conner and Kellerman (2002)

• 16% [of email users under 25] sign every message with love and kisses, even when addressing their boss

• Be conversational.– An overly formal e-mail message

alienates the reader. Don’t adopt acold, remote, or superior tone in an attempt to sound professional.

Level of Formality

Questions to which answers are evolving:– Do I need a subject line?– Should I email a thank-you note

after a job interview?– Should I communicate bad news

via email?

– 65 percent of Monster employers expect a thank-you note of some kind (36 percent indicated that they actually prefer thank you notes sent by email, surpassing the 29 percent who would rather receive the traditional letter variety).

Difference: Electronic

• Hit Send and it’s gone• Hit Reply All and your career

may be gone• Deleted emails live on• Messages can be forwarded

without your knowledge or consent

Tip: What not to do

• One of the officers convicted of beating Rodney King sent this email:

Oops. I haven’t beaten anyone so bad in a long time.

A transcript of the message was used at his trial.

Tip: Electronic

• Colonel David Russell’s rule: Never say anything in an electronic message that you wouldn't want appearing, and attributed to you, in tomorrow morning’s front-page headline in the New York Times.

Tip: Email is never private• Pillsbury assured employees that emails

were private.• Michael Smyth was fired after sending an

email calling his bosses “backstabbing bastards.”

• A court held that he had no reasonable expectation of privacy.

Tip: Keep confidences

• To cope with many questions about vacation policy, an HR minion emailed a copy to all employees.

• Attached was salary information.• Within weeks, 20% of the workforce

was gone—including the hapless minion.

Tip: Electronic ≠ Instant

• Many expect a phone call to alert them to an email labeled Urgent.

• Allow a reasonable time (two days – week) for a response.

• Respond before senders have to follow up or business is delayed.

– Daily Mail survey: Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents said they resented having to chase up e-mail responses. A quarter said they did so for more than half the e-mails they send. Nearly two-thirds felt business decisions were delayed due to a lack of e-mail response.

When would you use email?• To send confidential salary information• To address a personal hygiene issue• To get an immediate reply• To settle a conflict between two team

members• To request a manual for the new phone

system• To recap a conversation about a pending

order• To set up a meeting next month• To keep people updated on a project’s status

Where’s audience?

• People who wouldn't dream of burping at the end of dinner post offensive messages to international forums.

• Middle managers inadvertently send romantic email messages to the company-wide email alias.

• People at computer terminals forget that there are real live people on the other end of the wire.

Virginia Shea, Netiquette (1994)

Three manners:

Typing in all capitals in electronic communications means

(A) Nothing special--typing in all caps is normal.(B) You are shouting.(C) It’s OK to forward this message to others.(D) This message is very important.

Style mavens: O’Conner

Email’s “very structure … encourages curtness.”

• The blank subject line staring you in the face is a signal to state your business and get on with it….

• The To and From fields seem to make salutations and signatures redundant or unnecessary.

• What we have here is the ideal breeding ground for rudeness.

Tip: Use BCC wisely

• To keep addresses private, put your own address in the To: line and paste your mailing list in the cc: line

• BCCs within an organization can create distrust

Tip: Leave address blank

• If you’re furious and must answer an email right away, leave the address line blank.

• If you hit Send before you’ve had a chance to cool down, the email won’t go through.

Anatomy of email: From

Would you open mail from Vampyra@Goths_’R_Us.net Boogers2007@hotmail.com Dunno dunno@yahoo.com

Anatomy of email: From

E-mail recipients put more weight on who the e-mail is from than any other item when choosing

which e-mails to openwhich to deletewhich to complain about

Chris Baggot, ExactTarget

Be complete and be recognized.

Kathy Towner, WIN Communications

Anatomy of an email: Subject• Your subject can answer any of readers’ four key

questions:

1. What’s this about?

2. Why should I read this?

3. What’s in this for me?

4. What am I being asked to do?

To: Girl friendsFrom: Ima DitzRe: Change of plans

To: Sara Bellum From: Gray Matter Re: Marketing meeting rescheduled for

12/15/06

Tips: Subject

• Lead with the main idea

• Browsers may not display more than first 25-35 characters

• Create single-subject messages

• Keep track of threads

• Subject: New Year’s Party Plans (was: New Year-End Bonus Structure)

More Tips: Subject

• Double-check the address line before sending.

• Insulted by a general email from the boss,an employee sent an angry comment to a colleague (she thought): “Does she think we’re stupid?”

• The reply (from her boss): “Yes, I do.”

Anatomy of an email: Body

Before you type anything into a new message, have explicit answers for two questions:• Why am I writing this?• What exactly do I want the result of this message

to be?

• Before you hit Send, review and delete• Negative comments about management• Criticisms of staff or performance issues• Bonuses or salary issues• Product or liability issues• Gossip• Humor or other ambiguities

Anatomy of email: Body

• Write so emails are easy to read

• Make paragraphs 7-8 lines

• Insert a blank line between paragraphs

• Use headlines, bullets, and numbers

• AVOID ALL CAPS; THAT’S SHOUTIN

• If a message is longer than 3 screens, send an attachment

Anatomy of email: BodySubject: Noise level in the break rooms

How can we satisfy everyone?

Many of you have told me about the growing tension you feel around using the break rooms. Some of you use them to work and socialize; others need a quiet place to work.

Your ideas are welcome

What do you think we can do about this? Should we designate one room as a lounge and another as a quiet area? D. Dumaine

Tip: Balance formal/informal

Like our work clothes, the preferred writing style has become business casual.

Avoid extremes Not too pompous Not too passive Not too careless or flip

Diana Booher

Tip: Avoid brusqueness

• Brief is good. Blunt is not.

• Question: Should I pursue an advanced degree?

• Response 1: No.• Response 2: I don’t think an advanced

degree would have any effect on your potential for promotion here.

Diana Booher

Question: Do I need a greeting?

• Consensus: Yes.

Otherwise, you can seem brusque or unfriendly.

Question: Which greeting?

• Opinion: Divided

Some say “Hi, Steve,” is too informal. Some say “To whom it may concern” is stilted. For external communication, use same greeting

as in letter For internal communication, some use Myra:

Question: Which closing?

• Consensus• Match greeting in tone

• Formal: Sincerely, Best regards, Cordially• Informal: Thanks; All the best,

Talk to you later• Use a sig line that gives your name, title,

and contact information• Omit a P.S.

• (if the email is longer than a screen,a postscript could be missed)

Why netiquette?

• The electronic equivalent of a set of fussy rules that tell you … which fork to use with the salad course?

• Netiquette does not consist of a set of rigid rules.

• It encourages you to adopt a certain attitude

of thoughtfulness.Gregg Reference Manual, 10th ed.

Internet etiquette

Part-IMs. Rubina SheikhRegistration number:Class:

You and I live in a time that was for thousands of years unimaginable - having the ability to instantly communicate with one person or millions of persons with written language.

Internet Etiquette

•There are location and social situations where our appearance and use of language changes.

•We dress and talk differently depending on the people we are with.

•For example, we speak differently with our age group friends than with a doctor.

Internet Etiquette

•We are more thoughtful in choosing our words in a job interview than with employees at fast food restaurant.

•We alter our communication depending on the situation.

Internet Etiquette

We learn many language techniques by watching others use both good and poor

examples.

Internet Etiquette

•We observe, practice, and learn appropriate communication methods and avoid methods that are improper in the hundreds of social interactions we are involved in every day.

Internet Etiquette

Context clues such as tone, body language, gestures, and volume, provide the listener with additional information that the speaker is trying to convey.

Internet Etiquette

•The speaker observes the listener and makes changes to insure the correct meaning is understood.

Internet Etiquette

•These verbal and visual context clues are difficult to show when we communicate using technology.

Internet Etiquette

When we communicate on the Internet, context clues are not easily determined by readers and can lead to misunderstandings.

Internet Etiquette

•We are aware of our actions in the company of other people.

•We know there are consequences for wrong or illegal behavior.

Internet Etiquette

•We, too, need to be aware of our "behavior" while online.

•Although we may seem to be anonymous, there is a trail of our activity while we are online.

Internet Etiquette

So, practicing safe networking is as important as being safe while walking, playing sports, or driving.

Internet Etiquette

Will you use the Internet properly?

Thank you

BACKUP SLIDES

The Ten Commandments for Computer Ethics•The Ten Commandments for Computer Ethics http://www.fau.edu/netiquette/net/ten.html

Arlene H. Rinaldi "The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette" Florida Atlantic University,1998.

Six Tickets to Netiquette•Six Tickets to Netiquettehttp://writing.msu.edu/station/main5.html#Ticket%201

The Research Station. The Station Group; Michigan State University,October, 1998

practicing Good Etiquette•Practicing Good Etiquettehttp://cc.uoregon.edu/etiquette.html#Xtte96425

Academic User Services Consultants Computing Center. Basic Internet Terminology and Eddiquette. University of Oregon, October, 2004

Search Tools

•Search toolshttp://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

Debbie Abilock. NoodleTools Information Literacy: Search Strategies, NoodleTool, Inc., May 2005

Tools for 21stCentury Literacies

•Tools for 21st Century Literacies http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/21c.html

Debbie Abilock. NoodleTools 21st Century Literacies Tools for Reading the World, NoodleTool, Inc., July, 2004

Bibliography Tools

•Bibliography Tools http://www.noodletools.com/login.php

Top ten Most important Rules of Email Etiquette

•Top ten most Important Rules of Email Netiquettehttp://email.about.com/cs/netiquettetips/tp/core_netiquette.htm

Rules of Pen Pal Etiquette•Rules of Pen Pal Netiquette http://www.youthonline.ca/penpals/blppnet.shtml

LAUSD Acceptable user Policy•LAUSD Acceptable user Policy http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,136640&_dad=ptl&_schema=PTL_EP

LAUSD Technology Plan

•LAUSD Technology Planhttp://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/lausd/techplan/

•See 2002 Revised Plan Appendix A for student performance expectations

Common Emoticons and Acronyms•Common Emoticons and Acronyms http://www.pb.org/emoticon.html

Emoticons (and Acronymns)•Emoticons (and Acronymns) http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/emoticons.html

LAUSD ePALS E-mail

•Links to ePALS e-mail support and alternative e-mail application setups. You must have an active ePALS account to use these services.•ePALS Support https://epals.lausd.k12.ca.us•LAUSDnet Dialup Support http://techsupport.lausd.net/lausdnet_setup.htm•Entourage, Outlook Express, etc. setups http://techsupport.lausd.net/email_setup.htm

Practice safe networking.

Think before you send.

The End

Suggested resources

• Available at http://word-crafter.net/email.html– Articles– Best practices for email

marketing– Grammar help– Test your netiquette