Good Manners With E-Mail

People reading your messages will only see the words. They can not see your face or hear your voice. Irony and sarcasm usually come across as seriously meant, offensive or stupid. For these reasons, read your messages carefully before you send them.

There are a lot of chain letters, get-rich-quick, virus scares (for example, the Good Times virus)etc doing the rounds of e-mail. Delete them and do not send them on.

Using smileys or emoticons is a good way to add feeling to your e-mail. A list of common smileys appears below.

 

Smiley	Feeling
:D	grin or big smile
:) or :-)	smile
;)	wink
{{{{Mary}}}}	a hug for Mary
:( or :-(	a frown
:'( or :~~(	crying
0:)	angel
}:>	devil
:P	sticking out tongue
:P~~	drooling
***	kisses
<- coke	Action marker, as in drinking coke

Flaming is the name given to pointless over reaction to an e-mail message.

It happens all the time. It is considered good manners not to flame.

Flaming invariably comes across as angrier than you intended, and provokes an even angrier response.

It is better to ignore it completely.