A Quick Lesson In E-mail Etiquette…

Even seasoned e-mail users step over the lines of e-mail etiquette from time to time. If Dear Abby were around, here are 5 tips she would have for sending e-mails:

1. Don’t send large attachments unless requested. Large attachments can cause e-mail problems for the recipient. Wherever possible try to zip or compress attachments.

2. Make sure your anti-virus software is up-to-date. Here’s another problem with attachments: they are vehicles for viruses. You’ll quickly lose friends and customers if you send them documents full of viruses!

3. Don’t write in ALL CAPS. It’s the online equivalent of yelling.

4. When sending an e-mail to a group, use the BCC (blind carbon copy) field instead of the To field. By copying everyone in the same e-mail, you are publicizing their e-mail address to everyone else on the list. In some cases, this might be appropriate, but many people are very private about their personal e-mail address and will be annoyed by your lack of discretion.

5. NEVER send personal or confidential information by e-mail. Once you hit “send,” you lose all control over where that message ends up. This goes double for credit card numbers, bank accounts, and passwords to secure websites, as well as personal information about other people.