SCCHE Email Etiquette A, B, C's

Keep it Accurate

• If you are forwarding something, that means you are personally vouching for the content of that message.Remember, anybody can sound like an expert on the Internet. Do your homework and research anything that your forward.
• Accuracy also requires that the information is timely. Many email chain letters have been floating around the internet for a very long time. Some (assuming they contained some truth when originated) are now obsolete. If a message says "Send this to everyone," DON'T.
• Regarding Virus Warnings: My thought on virus warnings is that the warning itself IS the virus. For example, some people receive the warning and do nothing (they have obviously built up an immunity), while, others (who, apparently, are now infected) send the warning to as many people as they can; thus, propagating the "virus"! If you receive a message about a "new" virus, do not panic, check it out! Some of the best resources for identifying both imaginary and real virus warnings are given below.

Keep it Brief

• Try to minimize the message length. (Graphics, while pretty, require lots of memory and are very slow when you do not have high speed internet access. In addition, many members have email services with a limited amount of storage, so when the box is full, no more messages are received.) (Do you really need 12 different colors and 7 different fonts to convey your message?)
• If you want to reference a web page, provide a link to the page and some text as to why others should visit it and what it contains. DO NOT just paste or attach the page in your email!
• Focus on the subject as much as possible. (If you need to branch off onto a totally new and different topic then it's often better to send a new message.) It is best to cover only one topic per email.
• Always include a MEANINGFUL subject line in your message. If you are replying to a message but are changing the subject, change the subject line as well. (Do not leave the subject line blank; however, do not put the entire message in the subject line.)
• If you reply to a message, remember to DELETE as much of original as possible. Include only enough of the original message to provide a context. (Many times the subject line is all that is required to establish the context.)
• Use some kind of visual indication to distinguish between text quoted from the original message and your new text.
• Regarding Forwarded Messages: If a message is worth forwarding, make it your own! Copy the pertinent portions of the body, include the original sender's name and address (if important to content of the message) and the date of the EARLIEST forward that you received. (I regularly receive forwarded email where the actual content is either unreadable due to the number of times it has been quoted or it is lost in the seemingly infinite number of sender/recipient headers that have been included for no apparent purpose. The ONLY time I use the "Forward" is when I believe the recipient REQUIREs the original sender information to get the full context of the message.)

Keep it Courteous

• Don't type your message in all uppercase. The (over) use of upper-case words is the equivalent of shouting in someone's ear. ONLY use upper-case words when trying to make a point (such as I just did).
• Do not let yourself be easily offended. It is hard to convey expression in an email (even with emoticons or smilies), so often a phrase that is entirely innocent is interpreted as inflamatory by a reader. (If you are the reader, give the writer some grace.)
• If you are expecting replies to your message, include your email address as a part of the body of the message (not just the from field.) When using email lists, often the FROM: field is replaced with the list address so it may be difficult for people to reply directly unless you give them some help.
• If you are sending the same message to a large group of people, please list all of the recipients e-mail addresses in the BCC field. A long list of email addresses in the TO or CC fields indicates that the sender is either a novice or just does not care to respect others' privacy!
• Never give out someone's personal contact information without their specific permission.
• Do not over use acronyms.
• Do not over use punctuation.

Remember: