Chapter
Five
Understanding E-Mail
E-mail still makes up a majority of Internet traffic
today because everyone with Internet access has an e-mail account, even though he or she
may not have access to newsgroups, the World Wide Web, or other portions of the Internet.
Undoubtedly, 20 million people can send a lot of e-mail!
In this lesson, you find the answers to the
following questions:
- What is an e-mail address?
- Are all e-mail addresses the same?
- What are some examples of how to use e-mail?
- What are the basic parts of an e-mail message?
- Should I follow any rules or etiquette when using
e-mail?
No matter what e-mail client you use, you will find
the concepts and principles in this lesson universal.
The First Step: E-Mail Addresses
E-mail addresses are relatively easy to understand.
In fact, if you read Lesson 1, "The Internet: What's It Really Like?" you're
already halfway there. Every e-mail address has three necessary elements:
n User ID: Every person with an
e-mail address has a user identification of some sort. It is usually something simple,
like johndoe, but can be more complex.
- @: The "at" sign connects the user ID with
the third element.
- Domain: You have already learned about domain names;
every e-mail address has one.
CAUTION: E-mail addresses never contain
spaces or commas. If you see an e-mail address with a comma or space in it, you know right
away that it is invalid. This rule includes CompuServe addresses, which do contain commas.
If you're e-mailing to a CompuServe address from an Internet e-mail account, replace the
comma with a period.
So, to put it all together, a typical e-mail address
contains all three of the preceding elements. One example of an e-mail address is johndoe@nomansland.com.
Time Saver: You might see some pretty strange
addresses in your travels. If you see an e-mail address that you're really not sure about,
simply reply to the message (as explained in Lesson 6) and make note of the e-mail address
to which your client attempts to send the message. Your reply most often goes to the
correct address.
Why Do You Use E-Mail?
I gave you some examples and reasons for using
e-mail in Lesson 2, "Internet Uses in the Modern World," but you're ready for a
little more detail now. The examples in the following sections are not meant to be
exhaustive but should be enough to convince you that e-mail is a valuable tool.
"Let's Do E-Mail"
Our society is becoming increasingly interconnected.
Networking, in the personal and societal sense of the word, is vital. The old maxim
"It's not who you know, it's what you know" has never been truer. And you'll
find no better networking tool than e-mail.
The following are some examples of how you can use
e-mail to network with others:
- The mere act of having an e-mail address gives you an
advantage for networking and collaboration. In how many people without a phone would you
invest your time, business, and interest? E-mail is the phone number of today and the
future. Simply having an e-mail address opens you up to a whole new avenue of
connectivity.
- When you're working on a group project, either for
business or personal purposes, you can e-mail ideas, feedback, and drafts of work to every
member of the team. Often, without e-mail, these vital parts of collaboration have to be
delayed until everyone can get together for a meeting.
- Join a listserv related to a project or personal
interest of yours. You'll find no substitute for having access to experts and other
interested parties all over the world.
Cheaper Than a Dime a Minute
Sorry, long-distance companies, you don't have the
lowest rates; e-mail does. Even among commercial providers who charge hourly to use their
service, you simply can't communicate less expensively than by sending e-mail.
For the $2.95 per hour a typical service provider
might charge for access, you can send dozens of e-mail messages for the same price it
would cost you to place a typical three-minute long-distance phone call. Of course, if you
get Internet access through a provider that charges a flat fee with no hourly charges, you
save even more.
In addition, using e-mail usually provides a big
time savings. E-mail doesn't have to sit on hold, play phone tag, or deal with busy
signals, even during the busiest times of day. You can sit down, type out your message,
and move on, knowing that the person on the other end will get your message as soon as
possible.
Just A Minute: Don't kid yourself about using
e-mail, though. You can't find a substitute for having an intimate dinner, hearing
grandma's voice on the phone, or sealing a deal with a firm handshake. No one would
suggest that you become an e-mail hermit by forgoing other, more personal forms of
communication. Used with common sense, however, e-mail makes a lot of sense (and cents).
Anatomy of an E-Mail Message
The e-mail message is the cornerstone of all
communications on the Internet. But what is in an e-mail message and how do the parts work
together?
Every e-mail message contains two basic parts: the
header and the body. To help you understand this description, think of any typical letter
you write and mail to someone. You write your letter on paper, which then goes in an
envelope, where you provide the recipient's name, address, city, state, and ZIP code. You
can think of an e-mail message header as a digital envelope and the body as your
electronic letter.
Message Headers
Because your e-mail message will go through dozens
of high-speed computer networks on the way to its destination, an e-mail header is by
necessity more complex than the name and address you put on an envelope. Figure 5.1, for
example, shows a typical e-mail message header.
Fortunately, you don't need to know or worry about
what all the different items in a message header are. Instead, slow down your racing heart
by viewing what a typical message header looks like when you compose e-mail, as shown in
Figure 5.2.
The following are the different headers you need to
be concerned about when sending e-mail:
- To: The To: field contains the e-mail address of the
person to whom you are sending e-mail. Often, if you're sending e-mail to someone in your
own domain, you don't need to include @domain. If johndoe@nomansland.com
sends e-mail to janedoe@nomansland.com, for example, he can probably just put janedoe
in the To: field. Depending on what e-mail client you use, this field is sometimes called
the Message To: or Mail To: field.
- From: This field includes your e-mail address. You
almost never have to worry about this field because most e-mail clients automatically fill
it in for you.
Figure 5.1.
Imagine if you had to put all this information on
your next letter to Grandpa.
Figure 5.2.
Now this header is more like it. You really need
to know only a few header elements.
- Subject: The Subject: field should contain a very
short (20-30 characters) description of what your message is about. This field can also be
called Subject of Message: or simply Message:.
- CC: Most secretaries know that "CC" stands
for Carbon Copy. This field contains the e-mail addresses of additional recipients. Most
people put one e-mail address in the To: field and "copy" others by putting
their addresses in the CC: field.
- BCC: Many e-mail clients either hide this field or
don't give you quick access to it. This "black sheep" header field, which stands
for Blind Carbon Copy, gives you a way of copying an e-mail message to another person
without the first person you send the message knowing about it. Although this field has
legitimate uses, people often use the BCC: field to send e-mail behind others' backs.
- Attachments: Some e-mail clients don't offer this
field. Many clients, however, enable you to attach entire documents to e-mail messages. I
will discuss this powerful tool in greater detail in Lesson 7, "Using E-Mail Like the
Pros."
When all is said and done, a message header looks
something like the one pictured in Figure 5.3.
Figure 5.3.
A typical e-mail header is simple and easy to
understand.
Time Saver: One header you don't see that you
should know about is the Date: header. Although you usually never see it, many e-mail
servers require it to process e-mail. If you use an e-mail client on a PC or Macintosh,
make sure your Time and Date control panels are set to ensure that your e-mail has the
appropriate time and date headers.
The Body
The body of an e-mail message is even easier to
describe. It's simply the text that you want the person on the other end to see when he or
she receives your message. In the next section, "E-Mail Etiquette and
Conventions," I talk about some of the common rules to follow, but here are a few
general rules:
- Try to keep messages short and to the point. With the
exception of personal messages, you send e-mail to busy people (after all, you're a busy
person too, right?). It is not uncommon for someone "on e-mail" to receive in
excess of 100 messages a day.
- Make sure the Subject: field describes your message
accurately. Many people who get lots of e-mail decide whether they're going to read a
message based on the subject.
- Break up your message into short paragraphs. There is
nothing worse than having to reply to a message that is one long paragraph. These messages
are hard to read on a computer screen.
- Finally, don't be a pest. If you e-mail someone,
assume that he or she received the message and will get back to you. If a couple of days
go by, of course, you can send a reminder. Sending a message to someone every hour will
only succeed in getting that person mad.
After all your hard work and diligence, you may end
up with a short and concise message like the one shown in Figure 5.4.
Figure 5.4.
Often, a short e-mail message is effective.
E-Mail Etiquette and Conventions
E-mail etiquette is one of those areas that could
easily take up a whole guide. In fact, you can find entire guides about the etiquette and
standards for e-mail use. In the following sections, I talk about only a few of the bigger
areas involved in how to "make friends and influence people" through e-mail.
Mind Your Manners
Would you go to a foreign country for an extended
visit without trying to learn about (and adapt to) that country's culture? If you did, you
might end up getting funny stares because you refused an offer of food, or you might get
kicked out of the country because you didn't realize that laughing out loud at someone's
mistake is considered a grave insult.
Well, the same is true on the Internet. As I talked
about earlier, the Internet culture has been around for 25 years. Typing a message in the
wrong way might just get you flamed.
New Term: Flame: On the Internet, a flame is
a message that is, um, quite hot. Flames are messages that often contain profanity,
question your heritage, and basically berate and belittle people. Flames can be either
justified or unjustified.
- DO be as polite and courteous in e-mail as you
would be face-to-face. People are more often inclined to be rude when they have a sense of
anonymity.
DO exercise self-control. I
use what I call the "24-hour rule." If I receive an e-mail message that offends
me or makes me mad, I wait 24 hours before replying. More often than not, I realize the
person who sent me the insulting message isn't worth my time. The rest of the time, I come
to the conclusion that I have more important things to do.
DO try to be considerate by using proper
grammar and punctuation so that the recipient can understand what you're saying. Lots of
run-on sentences with oodles of spelling errors make for a bad reading experience.
DO use common sense. If you write a message
for which you want a response, tell the recipient to please respond. If you're writing to
someone you don't know for the first time, introduce yourself first. Courtesy and common
sense are qualities to which almost everyone responds.
DON'T SCREAM. TYPING IN ALL CAPITALS IS
CONSIDERED SCREAMING AND IS OFFENSIVE. Type as you would write a normal letter, using
proper punctuation and syntax.
DON'T become a "leach." Leaches are people who go to others on the Internet
for all their answers and can end up being really annoying. Most people on the Internet
are more than willing to help someone who really needs it, but e-mailing someone to find
out how to spell "ridiculous" is, well, ridiculous.
DON'T spam. Spam is any mass-mailed material
meant for self-promotion, advertisement, or pure silliness. Spam, or electronic junk mail,
is probably one of the most offensive acts on the Internet and, if you happen to send spam
to an Internet veteran, you could find your e-mail account full of megabytes of junk until
you apologize.
Tips for Brevity and Clarity
Believe it or not, you can shorten and clarify even
when you're typing in simple text message. The following are some commonly used
abbreviations on the Internet:
| BTW |
By The Way |
| FWIW |
For What It's Worth |
| IMO |
In My Opinion |
| IMHO |
In My Humble Opinion/In My Honest
Opinion |
| FAQ |
Frequently Asked Question |
| RE: |
Regarding |
| FYI |
For Your Information |
| IRT |
In Regards To |
| OTOH |
On The Other Hand |
| YMMV |
Your Mileage May Vary |
-
To further help you clarify your point, you also can
use a couple other accepted conventions:
| _underline_ |
Underlines give emphasis
without shouting. Because you can't usually underline a whole phrase, the custom is to put
an underline mark in the first space preceding and following the text you want to be read
as underlined. |
| *asterisks* |
Same as underlining. |
Emoticons
Conveying emotions in an e-mail message is tough. It
is, in many people's opinions, one of the reasons that so much flaming and
miscommunication occur on the Net. Face it, people interpret communication based not just
on words, but on tone of voice, curvature of the lips, position of the body, and more.
None of these factors are present in e-mail. It's just you, the text, and the reader.
Using emoticons (short for emotional icons) is one way of trying to get across the emotion
in what you say.
The following is a short list of but a few of the
thousands of emoticons that you will see in your e-mail travels:
| :) |
Standard smiley face |
| ;) |
Winking smiley face |
| :> |
Mischievous grin |
| :)) |
Big smile |
| :( |
Standard sad face |
| :< |
Angry/mad face |
CAUTION: Just like anything, if overused,
emoticons become useless and even annoying. Don't start using emoticons everywhere. Use
them conservatively and where appropriate. When used appropriately, however, they can
effectively connote sarcasm, humor, sadness, or any number of other emotions.
Look at the sample e-mail message in Figure 5.5. It
incorporates many of the items listed in this section. Can you spot them all?
Figure 5.5.
This message has many elements of effective
e-mail.
Summary
In this lesson, I took you through a quick tour to
understanding e-mail. You learned that the user ID, an @ sign, and a domain name make up
every e-mail address on the Internet. You also discovered some of the practical reasons
you might want to use e-mail.
I then went on to explain the different parts of a
message header (To:, From:, Subject:, CC:, BCC:, and Attachments:), as well as appropriate
material for message bodies. Finally, I described some of the nuances of using e-mail,
such as etiquette, proper ways to make your messages more concise and clear, and how to
add emotion to what you write.
Workshop
The following workshop helps solidify the skills
that you learned in this lesson.
Q&A
Q I've heard that emoticons can really annoy some
people. If this is true, should I use them?
A Hey, some people get annoyed if you look at
them. Should you stop looking at people? Yes, some people really dislike emoticons, but
these people will usually tell you. For the most part, when you use emoticons
appropriately, many people will appreciate your attempts to communicate more effectively.
Q I like to see all the little details. Can I see
the entire header of all my messages?
A If you really want to see the entire
header, most e-mail clients provide ways of viewing it. Look for preferences or options in
your client that talk about how to "expand headers" or "display header
information."
Q I have a friend who gave me an e-mail address
that didn't look like any of your examples. Is it likely that this address is correct?
A If the address has a continuous string of
characters, followed by an @ sign and then another continuous string of characters (some
of which are usually periods), it is probably a valid address. Just make sure that no
commas or spaces appear in the address, and give it a try.
Quiz
Take the following quiz to see how much you've
learned.
Questions
- 1. Which e-mail address is likely invalid?
- (a) example.no1@another.world.com
(b) 99%clx!!x%@uunet.net
(c) example 3@another.galaxy.com
2. Do e-mail messages contain a Date: header?
- (a) Yes
(b) No
3. Read the following sentence:
IMO, _you_ are the one that's out to lunch,
buddy. :)
- Is this message likely a(n)
- (a) Friendly message
(b) Flame
(c) Inappropriate use of e-mail
Answers
- 1. (c) Remember, no matter how weird an e-mail
address looks, you only know it's invalid if it has a space or a comma.
2. (a) Yes. Just because it doesn't show up doesn't mean it isn't a header.
3. (a) Notice the underscore marks for emphasis and not capital letters. Also note
that the sender used a smiley emoticon at the end of the line.
Activity
Rent a movie or record a favorite TV show; then pick
out a minute or two of dialogue you particularly like. See if you can transcribe the
dialogue into acceptable "e-mailese." Show the dialogue to a friend or family
member to see if he or she can tell you what emotions and feelings are being expressed.
(You should pick someone who is familiar with e-mail to review your dialogue; otherwise,
you'll have to explain what all your marks and abbreviations mean.)
|
What is Internet
