It is National Cyber Safety Awareness Month and sending emails is something many of us take for granted today.
Have you ever hit that SEND button then realized it went to the wrong person? After all, especially if you work with an address book, you could have more than one “Sue” in there, and another “Sue” just received my email. Unfortunately, this other “Sue” is not exactly one you wanted to know about the information that was intended for the other “Sue”.
Yes, email does have have pet peeves we need to be aware of.
Whether you use email a little or a lot, there are certain things that annoy you about this communication tool. Sometimes the annoyance comes from the way others use it. Sometimes it is just your own frustration in dealing with the software and computers in general that is the issue.
- Forwards. It isn’t that we don’t ever want anyone to forward us a great email message, we just hate it when that is ALL we receive from some people and that we receive them in multiples each day. It doesn’t take long for those warm fuzzy messages and all those funny jokes to become very impersonal when that is all a person ever sends. All it takes is two or three email friends that are “Forward Junkies” to keep your email box filled with new time wasting mail every day.
- Guilt and Greed messages. You know the ones I’m talking about. A lot of them have really great content in them but when you get to the end they hit you either with greed (send this to at least 10 people in the next 5 minutes and you’re wishes will all come true) or with guilt (send this on to everyone on your mailing list if you’re not ashamed of Jesus).
- Not using bcc. Incase you are one of those who still doesn’t know what bcc stands for, it’s blind carbon copy. When you send those forwards on to people, don’t use the To: or the CC: fields. There is another option, it is the BCC field. This keeps all the email addresses you are sending to hidden from the other recipients. Do your part to help prevent the spread of viruses and spam, use the bcc field when sending to multiple recipients.
- Pictures and videos sent to dialup accounts. If you know that one of your email contacts has to access the internet via a dialup connection, have compassion on them. Think before you send them that Youtube video or the ten cute pictures of puppies. It will take forever for them to download at dialup speed and they can’t get any of their other email until yours finishes loading.
- Receiving files you can’t open. Sometimes this issue could have been avoided with a little thought on the senders part, other times it is just a matter of the recipient not having an up to date computer or having an incorrect setting that doesn’t allow them to open certain files that others can. If you have the newest version of MS Office, don’t assume that everyone else does. Use your ‘Save As’ function to save the file in a different format that is compatible with a wider range of programs.
- Reply All. Although this is a great feature, sometimes it gets used unintentionally and everyone on a list receives a reply meant for only one of you. This can be annoying, and potentially, embarassing.
- Fear and hate messages. These are those messages that are intended to stir up fear, anxiety or even hatred. Often times the messages are political, racial or religious in nature. Usually they also mix truth with falsehoods or exaggerations to add to the confusion.
- Use of text slang with non-texters. LOL – Does that mean ‘Lots of Love’? Btw – Does that mean ‘Before the War’? idk, ttyl Translation: I don’t know. Talk to you later.
- Assumptions that everyone checks their email daily. With so many having continual access to their email via their computers and cellphones, it is easy to assume that an email message will be received and read the same day it was sent. There are those who choose not to open their email inbox daily, either because they don’t want to take the time or they don’t expect to receive important communication via email on a regular basis. It can be frustrating to persons on both ends when an email regarding important news is not read until several days after it was sent.
- Spam. This is the equivalent of electronic junk mail. Emails sent out to email addresses in mass mailings in the attempt to lure you to a website or infect you with a virus. They waste your time and endanger the security of your data. Good virus and anti-spam filtering software can help alleviate this annoying issue.
Electronic mail, we love it and we loathe it at times, but it has become a part of almost everyones life. We might as well learn how to use it in the most beneficial ways possible.
Source: My ISP Finder
I have personally received several emails from people that have “Sue” in their address books. Many were business related messages regarding meetings they were to attend and updates on conferences. I have politely emailed the people back saying they have emailed the wrong “Sue”.
The Internet, it is a wonderful tool, you simply need to remember it is also a machine that has a human running it.
