ABCs of E-Mail Etiquette

Question 1

A

Answer 1

Acronyms such as TMI (too much information) or LOL (laugh out loud) can confuse/annoy e-mail recipients.

Question 2

B

Answer 2

Be sure to double-check the address to which you are sending.

Question 3

C

Answer 3

Cluttered e-mails waste time and effort.

Question 4

D

Answer 4

Default settings are the best choice when e-mailing someone whose technology tools are unknown to you.

Question 5

E

Answer 5

Excessive punctuation should be avoided!!!!!!!!!

Question 6

F

Answer 6

Flaming– sending an angry e-mail message–is always unacceptable.

Question 7

G

Answer 7

Grammar counts.

Question 8

H

Answer 8

Humor, sarcasm, or irony easily can be misinterpreted in an e-mail, where the tone of your voice is lost.

Question 9

I

Answer 9

Include a subject line in all e-mails that will be meaningful and memorable to both you and the recipient.

Question 10

J

Answer 10

Judgment is essential when forwarding e-mails.

Question 11

K

Answer 11

Keep the body of your e-mails short and to the point.

Question 12

L

Answer 12

Limit each line of an e-mail to fewer than 75 characters.

Question 13

M

Answer 13

Mind your manners.

Question 14

N

Answer 14

Never send anything by e-mail that you would not want made public.

Question 15

O

Answer 15

Opening an unexpected attachment can be dangerous.

Question 16

P

Answer 16

Publicizing someone else’s e-mail address without their permission is an invasion of their privacy.

Question 17

Q

Answer 17

Quick! Get to the point!

Question 18

R

Answer 18

Replying to spam– even unsubscribe –confirms to the spammer that your e-mail address is active, and results in even more spam.

Question 19

S

Answer 19

Scheduling an email to be sent at a future date/time is a valuable formatting feature.

Question 20

T

Answer 20

Time matters. Reply to e-mails within 2 hours, if possible. When sending the email, use the “request read receipt” feature.

Question 21

U

Answer 21

UPPERCASE WORDS LOOK LIKE SHOUTING.

Question 22

V

Answer 22

Very large files or attachments can crash recipients’ e-mail programs– or worse, their servers. Send a website address instead–or ask the recipient’s permission to send the file.

Question 23

W

Answer 23

Warnings about hoaxes, computer viruses, or other “urgent” may be false.

Question 24

X

Answer 24

Exert caution when opening links within an email… someone may be phishing for your personal information.

Question 25

Y

Answer 25

Your tone in an e-mail should reflect who the recipient is, not the communication medium you’re using. While an informal tone is appropriate for a friend, a more formal tone should be used otherwise.

Question 26

Z

Answer 26

Zip your lip! E-mail is personal correspondence. You should never– without permission from the sender–quote publicly from, or forward to a public forum, a private e-mail sent to you.