posted by StephenBeDoper on Fri 23rd Jan 2009 15:40
This is a quick rant about some of the specific annoyances I've run into as a heavy EMail user, especially in the last few years. - Does no one understand why (or how) to use "reply-to-all" anymore? I've given up asking at this point, and usually just put addresses back in the CC field manually. One former coworker went so far as to respond to EMails by forwarding the message back to the sender, with her response at the top.
- It seems that fewer and fewer people understand how to reply to long EMails (replying underneath specific points). And those that do often end up inventing their own quoting scheme (E.g., colour-coding their text).
- Basic literacy - it's amazing how many supposed-professionals use emoticons, chat lingo, ALL CAPS, etc, in their EMail. Have elementary schools stopped teaching the basics of writing a formal letter?
- Related to that, it seems that many people have spent so much time using IM that they are completely unable to comprehend (or write)
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Member since:2008-06-02
What annoys me more is that many people use a lot of sentences where one would do. Whenever I have the time, I try to shorten my mails to avoid wasting people's time.
Absolutely - I generally do the same sort of proofreading / fat-trimming before hitting "Send."
I see the main distinction as being between those who take a deliberate effort to be concise, and those who do it just to be lazy (or because they're not capable of anything other than the most basic written communication).
Smilies make most sense to indicate irony, a stylistic device that shouldn't be used in the workplace anyway.
Totally agreed there.
Member since:2005-07-06
What annoys me more is that many people use a lot of sentences where one would do. Whenever I have the time, I try to shorten my mails to avoid wasting people's time.
True enough. As the old journalism joke goes, "I would have made it shorter, but I didn't have the time."
Both strike me as examples of erring to an extreme - excessive brevity, or excessive verbosity.
Smilies make most sense to indicate irony, a stylistic device that shouldn't be used in the workplace anyway.
Good point. And to put on my cynicism/snobbery hat, I've found that smilies are usually favoured by people who can't spot written irony otherwise.
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Member since:
2006-07-30
What annoys me more is that many people use a lot of sentences where one would do. Whenever I have the time, I try to shorten my mails to avoid wasting people's time.
Smilies make most sense to indicate irony, a stylistic device that shouldn't be used in the workplace anyway.