The 7 points of email etiquette

I’ve been on the Internet for 9 years. During this time, I’ve seen a lot of people come online. We’ve gone to being the only ones in the family with Internet access to using the Internet to plan a family reunion. We’ve gone from no businesses in our city having a website to being able to purchase things in our city through a website.

With all this growth, there seems to be a trend among Internet users (new and old alike) to be lazy in their email usage. I present the following 7 points of email etiquette to help make email easier to read for everyone.

1. Use a subject

One of the most important steps is using a subject. Not using a subject can decrease the chances of having your email read. Some people leave for last any emails without subject headings. Since some spam don’t contain subjects, people often automatically delete messages with no subjects.

2. Use a descriptive subject

The subject should describe the message. Keep it brief, but make sure it’s related to the content of the message. If the message is about the birth of a new baby, don’t have the subject say “Hello”. In addition, don’t use the first few words of a sentence as your subject, then continue the sentence in the email. It confuses people who don’t read email subjects.

3. Use the BCC field

If you must forward something to several individuals that has the potential to be forwarded on by them, please use the BCC (blind carbon copy) field. This ensures their privacy because it hides their email addresses from each other. It also decreases the chance of spammers harvesting their email addresses.

4. Use punctuation and capitalization

Please use periods to end sentences, and capitalize the first letter of each sentence. At the very least, please do this. Emails that are all lowercase and have no punctuation are difficult to read and take unnecessary amounts of time to decipher. As well, it’d be nice if you used commas and the like where required. Whatever you do, don’t use ellipses to replace all other forms of punctuation.

5. Check your spelling

Most email software has a spell checking feature. Please use it. Sloppy spelling is irritating and often confusing. It makes you look illiterate. Please don’t use Internet slang in your emails (i.e. ur, lol, ppl, etc).

6. Use proper grammar

Please use proper grammar. It doesn’t need to be formal writing, but things should make sense. Using improper grammar confuses readers and often sends an unintended message.

7. Close with your name

Please end your message with your name. If it’s your first email to a person, use your first and last name. It’s appropriate to use only your first name in emails to more familiar persons. It’s simply a matter of courtesy to the sender to know who’s sending them the message.

UPDATE (15 Nov 2005): For related posts, see Roger Johansson’s Stop sending annoying email and Merlin Mann’s Five email tics I’d love for you to lose.