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Be concise and to the point.
Do not make an e-mail longer than it needs to
be. Remember that reading an e-mail is harder than reading
printed communications and a long e-mail can be very
discouraging to read.
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Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation.
E-mails with no full stops or commas are
difficult to read and can sometimes even change the meaning
of the text. And, if your program has a spell checking
option, why not use it?
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Do not write in CAPITALS
IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU
ARE SHOUTING. This can be highly annoying and might trigger
an unwanted response in the form of a flame mail. Therefore,
try not to send any email text in all capitals. BOLDING
THE CAPITALS can make the annoyance even greater.
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Do not overuse Reply to All.
Only use Reply to All if you really need your
message to be seen by each person who received the original
message.
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Take care with abbreviations and emoticons.
Try not to use abbreviations such as BTW (by
the way) and LOL (laugh out loud). The recipient might not
be aware of the meanings of the abbreviations and these are
generally not appropriate. The same goes for emoticons, such
as the smiley :-). If you are not sure whether your
recipient knows what it means, it is better not to use it.
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Do not forward chain letters.
Do not forward chain letters. We can safely say that all of
them are hoaxes. Just delete the letters as soon as you
receive them.
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Do not use email to discuss confidential
information.
Sending an email is like sending a postcard.
If you don't want your email to be displayed on a bulletin
board, don't send it. Moreover, never make any libelous,
sexist or racially discriminating comments in emails, even
if they are meant to be a joke.
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Don't forward virus hoaxes and chain letters.
If you receive an email message warning you
of a new unstoppable virus that will immediately delete
everything from your computer, this is most probably a hoax.
By forwarding hoaxes you use valuable bandwidth and
sometimes virus hoaxes contain viruses themselves by
attaching a so-called file that will stop the dangerous
virus. The same goes for chain letters that promise
incredible riches or ask your help for a charitable cause.
Even if the content seems to be bona fide, the senders are
usually not. Since it is impossible to find out whether a
chain letter is real or not, the best place for it is the
recycle bin.
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Don't reply to spam.
By replying to spam or by unsubscribing, you are confirming
that your email address is 'live'. Confirming this will only
generate even more spam. Therefore, just hit the delete
button or use email software to remove spam automatically.
