By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Email = electronic letter. Think about it!
We seem to have, over the last couple of years with email becoming more and more popular and the norm, forgotten that it is an electronic letter and that letters require certain etiquette.
But, for some reason, in this modern age, which some people even predict to be post-email (and general letter), with Instant Messenger (IM), SMS, etc., we have dropped all courtesy and etiquette and out message are brash and without any real direction at times.
While IM and SMSs, obviously, have the place, email should be used as what it is; an electronic letter and should be written as would be a business or personal letter, depending on the n ature of the email.
IM, SMS, and such are NOT emails and should not be used to be replace email not should email be treated as if it be an IM conversation or and SMS. IM and SMSs are more like written telephone conversations, and much like a quick phone call, do not use much etiquette but even in a phone call there seems to be more etiquette than there is in today's emails.
When it comes to the email the more “formal” etiquette of a letter people should be used again but I am beginning to think the we have, actually, lost the skills of proper letter writing. Schools, I should guess, no longer teach it and neither, it would appear , does any workplace.
No one would dare send out a letter by mail in the way many do send emails. Why, then, is it done with emails in this slap happy way? An email is an electronic letter and not a post in some forum or chat program.
Let's rediscover the art and etiquette of letter writing also for the electronic letter. Our world is rude enough as it is.
© 2011
