E-mail Etiquette: Do's, Don'ts, and Disaster Tales from People Magazine's Internet Manners Expert Book

The etiquette rulebook was born 4,200 years ago, when Ptah Hotep prescribed proper behavior to ancient Egyptians. Netiquette, however, is a relatively new field. In E-Mail Etiquette, Samantha Miller sheds light on the dos and don'ts of attachments, mass mailings, personal and business e-correspondence, e-mail hoaxes, viruses, spam, and e-mail privacy. "E-mail should be the most polite form of communication ever invented," says Miller, the Internet manners expert for People magazine. Then why is so much of it so irksome? Miller's contributors complain about useless subject heads, unattached attachments, and those chain letters usually sent by one's mother. Miller herself weighs in on SHOUTING, signature lines, and emoticons. On-the-job e-mailers are advised never to write anything in e-mail "you wouldn't want to see tacked to the office refrigerator." Joke senders are counseled to "think of e-mail as a cocktail party.... You don't plant yourself in front of a group of partiers and tell jokes until they flee." Who wouldn't benefit from discussions about why spelling matters and when it's appropriate to e-mail a thank-you note? --Jane SteinbergRead More