Email culture - have we evolved in tandem with the development of the internet? Part 2

My better half is my biggest critic. Well, not only when it comes to my writing, but also when it comes to all aspects of my life. She almost never compliments me about the quality or significance of my writings because she knows my standard and demands something better out of me all the time - including you know what.

She asked me why all of a sudden this topic. I answered: 3 issues that affected me recently prompted me to write about emails:
1. The problem with lousy email users not replying most of my important work-related emails. Not even a simple answer like thanks or OK or I'll look into it.
2. The problem of compulsive chain-emailers overloading my in-box with insignificant stuff, some of which are scams of some sort (not necessarily financial) and some which are just someone's idea of a bad joke (one of which recently offended another who replied back showing his disgust to the sender and cc-ed it to all other recipients).
3. Spams, which I am getting less of it now, no doubt, but a topic I would like to explore into to enlighten myself, certain individuals and groups about what it really means.

When I told her I took half my working day to do the write-up, she said not good enough because with that amount of time it should be longer and that I should have delved into her favorite networking site - Facebook. Yes, she's an ardent fan of Facebook and I think I should stop commenting more about what she likes before I get a good bashing when she reads this.

About not writing fast enough or longer, I do write slowly because I have to check my sentences, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, facts and and double check them again for clarity before I publish them. I believe that writers who choose to double check their write-ups, amend errors and if possible shorten or concise their sentences for simplicity and brevity before putting them up for publication abide to the hallmark of good writings. These factors should be the benchmark of a good writer and not just that writers also have to check their facts as they have to be responsible and accountable for what they publish.

But then OK, I said I'll try to write longer this time around with that amount of time without any or less mistakes (then it pondered upon me why women likes to spend time reading thick novels - those steamy, romantic stuff! - one marriage manual states that any man who wants to know what women really want should read a romance novel. They are as close to a marriage manual for men as you're ever going to get. You only need to read one...they're all the same).

OK, sorry for the digression. Let's get to the serious stuff...

Christine Jalleh, a communications specialist who blogs about English, culture and travel quoted The Radicati Group, that on average of 210 emails are sent per day with business users sending and receiving about 156 emails per day (reported in August 2008). The majority is spam, which leave an average of 60+ emails flooding your in-box every day.

Maybe its due to this fact that some people take emails for granted - either they couldn't be bothered to reply them even if it's important or they become obsessed and fall into the second category - chain e-mailers - 'shooting off' by forwarding all their emails as fast as they get them.

Christine says in general, emails that are least likely to get a person's attention fall into these categories:
> Emails that do not require the recipient’s action i.e. copied or “c.c.”-ed emails.
> Emails containing more than ten names in the “To” section – such e-mails are labeled as general or opinion-seeking e-mails. Recipients tend to delay their responses to these e-mails, thinking that nine others are available to respond.
> Emails containing one-word responses e.g. “OK”, “Thanks, everyone.”
> Forum-like e-mails which contain endless replies after replies on a topic of discussion.

But I would like to add, from my experience some emails sent directly to a recipient get unnoticed because the recipient couldn't even bother to open and read them! Until of course their in-box gets clogged and their email account eventually use up the maximum limit. (Then they can have a good excuse of not using their email because it is now kaput!)

And after we get a chance to meet them personally and ask them if they have received the email, this is the standard answer we get - tak dak pun! or tak buka email pun lagi! or komputer I rosak!

To them e-mail is not their culture. Period! You want to say anything to them, come up to meet them and say it on their face. Only then you will get an answer. Regarding this group of people, whoever or whatever they are, I rest my case!

But there are some email users who do open their email but are reluctant to reply immediately because:
> they want to contemplate on the matter and wish to delay answering
> they would prefer others on the list to answer as they consider the others could give better answers or opinions
> they just want to delay until they don't answer at all

There are also some example of people who are unresponsive to emails but suddenly one fine day you get to see one long, emotional write-up appear in your mailbox because:
> they only write when they are very angry - a knee jerk reaction to some offensive email or event
> they are very happy about some happenings in their life, like a promotion or moving on to another place
> criticizing a particular person, without naming their victim
> apologizing profusely for something wrong they have done

I have no qualms about people who don't answer personal emails, like asking their help on something unrelated to work or about inviting them to some party or occasion or wanting their opinion or cooperation about a personal project. This to me is their own choice. But not replying to important, work related matter until it gets everybody into trouble is something we should avoid. This couldn't be bothered or lackadaisical attitude is really upsetting, to say the least.

Some university in the West have this policy that the e-mail is an official means for communication. Therefore, the university or their authority has the right to send communications to their subjects via e-mail and the right to expect that those communications will be received, read and replied in a timely fashion. Some examples of these policies can be viewed here and here.

At University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire nearly 90% of all its students and staff are regular users of email. Email to them is a utility. They rely on it just as they rely on heat, water and electricity. They have taken advantage of this widespread email utilization, and use it to distribute administrative reports, personal documents and official notifications - saving money and improving service to students and faculty. You can read the report here.

Last, but not least - to people who don't answer emails promptly, read this.