5 Common Email Blunders - And What To Do About Them

A lot of people send email messages blissfully unaware of the problems that they are causing for other Internet users. Here are 5 of the main blunders - and some things you can do about them.

Blunder #1: Sending HUGE email attachments.
Those photos, documents, and movie clips that you attach to your email messages can be many megabytes in size. If the recipient is on dialup, their computer can be tied up for hours trying to download your monster messages.
Or if they are using a mobile phone to receive mail the costs can be considerable.

When they find out you've sent them 5 pictures of Fluffy the cat looking out the window, don't be surprised if they pay you a visit in the early hours of the morning. Making jabbing movements towards your soft bits with a sharp kitchen implement.

So - If you DO want to send large attachments to someone - ask first to make sure that it won't be a problem at the other end.

Hint: If you want to send pictures by email, get Picasa. This free program helps you manage thousands of images, and automatically formats them for email use.

Blunder #2 - Using the Wrong Email Address Fields.
Imagine a solicitor sending out a change of address notice to all his friends, family, clients, court contacts, etc. And imagine if everyone who received the letter could see the name and email address of everyone else who had received the message. Major embarrassment - and undoubted breach of privacy.

Email programs give you a choice of 3 fields where to put addresses. Here's how to use them:

TO: The main addressee - you can put multiple addresses here, and everyone who received the email will see them.
CC: The Carbon Copy field - everyone can see the addresses here too.
BCC: Blind Carbon Copy. The email will be sent to all the addresses in this field - and nobody will be able to see who else received a copy of the message.

Blunder #3 - Not Using a Protected Computer.
It has been shown that harmful programs will install themselves on your unprotected Internet computer in less than 30 minutes. Without an up to date, operational protection programs your computer could be:
- deleting or changing your files
- sending out squillions of email messages
- a "soldier" in a 50,000 strong botnet "army" that is bringing some poor website to its knees.

If you use email your computer MUST have operational, up to date programs that protect it. Otherwise, it's almost certain that you are causing grief for yourself and other Internet users. There are many free programs available that will give you excellent protection - just search Google to find them: AVG, Adaware, Spybot, ZoneAlarm, Avast. For a complete protection solution in one package, I use and recommend the Zonealarm Internet Security Suite.

Blunder #4. Wasting People's Time
If there's a meeting on the 3rd floor at 2pm, just send out a email text message - and not a 3-megabyte graphic creation that takes ages to load, and requires the user to open other programs to view it. Try to keep your email messages brief, simple and to the point. Your recipients will appreciate it.

Blunder #5 - No Subject Line
A blank email subject line increases the chance that your message won't be read by the recipient.
With the flood of messages that people receive, it's common that people ignore (or have their filters delete) everything without a subject line.

Just saying something like "Hi" is not much better.
It only takes a couple of seconds to put in something meaningful. This is basic good manners, and also makes it much easier to locate the message if you need it in the future.

Bonus: Blunder #6 - Thinking that Email is Confidential. Email messages (and their attachments) can easily be forwarded to ANYONE. If you write a controversial message to anyone, THINK before sending it.

Don't send an email that was written while you are angry. Wait till you have calmed down, and review it before you send it.

Seed Newsvine

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