E-mail is at risk of killing its own usefulness. Daily e-mail
volume is now at 210 billion a day worldwide and increasing,
according to The Radiate Group, a market research firm.
The burden of managing all that e-mail has prompted a backlash. One
extreme reaction is "e-mail bankruptcy," where users throw up their
hands and erase their entire inboxes. Many admit the distraction
makes it near impossible to get work done, or even socialize
normally.
Kelly Kirk, who works for a trade group in downtown Washington,
D.C., says checking e-mail comes between her work and her personal
life.
"I'm constantly ducking my head under tables during events to check
my e-mail. I hid behind a tree once when my boyfriend said I wasn't
allowed to check my BlackBerry," Kirk says. To get "real work" done,
she says she now turns off the computer and her BlackBerry.
Companies are coming up with both behavioral and technical answers
to the e-mail overload issue. Some major companies, like Intel,
discourage the use of the "reply all" feature, which generates lots
of extra mail. Other companies try to enforce "e-mail-free Fridays."
At Microsoft, people are turning to instant messaging — or the good
old phone — according to Joel Charkas, a manager working in the
company's Reston, Va., offices. His e-mail program includes a
feature that allows him to see whether co-workers are online.
Color-coded dots signal availability: red for busy and green for
online.
The phone or instant message cuts out lots of extra time exchanging
messages, Charkas says. That shift in behavior also trimmed e-mail
traffic by about 20 percent, he estimates.
At the same time, companies are seeking ways to make the technology
itself better at filtering what matters from what doesn't.
Yahoo, one of the biggest providers of Web-based mail, is trying to
rethink its e-mail as a social network, according to John Kremer,
vice president of Yahoo Mail. The idea is that since most of us
e-mail only a handful of people regularly, e-mail systems should
display those messages at the top of the inbox.
A startup called Robin recently launched free software, which is
based on a similar idea. The group's program works with Microsoft
Outlook; every time you e-mail, it pulls up a profile of the person
you're e-mailing, their contact information and previous e-mail
conversations you had with that person.
"The problem we're trying to solve is the fact that people can't
deal with all the information in their inboxes," said Robin Vice
President Gabor Celle. "It might be very hard to remember what
folder you stored that e-mail in or who sent you that message."
And, Celle says, if e-mail doesn't provide its users a solution, it
risks becoming less useful to those who rely on it.
Are electronic wedding invitations OK? May I forward a friend's
personal e-mail without her permission? How big is too big when it
comes to sending photos?
e-mail etiquette expert Judith Kilos –- who runs the site
netmanners.com –- to weigh in on some of these modern communication
problems. First and foremost, she says, when it comes to technology,
it's not all about you. "Your e-mail involves the party or parties
on the other side," she says. Remember that — before you send a huge
file that could crash your friend's inbox and cause an important job
offer to bounce.
Know your tone. Firing off an e-mail is easy — and made especially
convenient thanks to hand-held devices like the BlackBerry and the
Palm — but be careful that your messages don't come off as
unintentionally blunt or demanding. Tapping out "I'd like this now"
on your hand-held might seem appropriate while you're stuck in the
car at a short stoplight, but to the recipient, it can come off as
terse and demanding. "A please or thank you can soften a one-line
e-mail," Kilos says. Because short e-mails require that the
recipient hang on every word, she says, "It behooves you to make
sure that the tone is what you meant to convey."
Stop e-mailing me spam. Love, Dad. Controversial spam can cause
major family rifts. Kilos recalls an especially contentious e-mail
brawl involving a mother who became so offended that her grown
daughter had asked her to stop forwarding political content that she
disowned her. So before you forward something on, ask yourself
whether the person would enjoy it. If you're not sure, hit delete.
And if you've received unwanted family/friend spam, Kilos suggests
using your full inbox as an excuse to be unsubscribed. "Just say
that your e-mail volume is so high that you'd appreciate being
removed from mailings," she says. However, Kilos warns, you may run
the risk of getting people upset anyway.
Size matters. So you want to share your wedding/baby/kids'
prom/wedding dress photos with your family and friends? Remember
that large files — and that includes movies, PowerPoint
presentations and graphics — can overload mailboxes even if they fit
in yours. Try creating a gallery on sites like Shutterfly.com or
Snapfish.com — or upload them to a hosting site like Flicker — and
send a simple link. For a few photos, try resizing images to about
500 pixels. Is your file size inching toward megabytes? It's too
big.
Forward politely. Kilos suggests:
* removing all but the guts of an e-mail you plan to forward —
delete brackets, previous commentary and recipients.
* checking sites like Snopes.com to determine validity of the
contents.
* writing a comment to personalize the e-mail — it shows the
recipient you think it's worth the time to read it.
* DON'T FORWARD CHAIN LETTERS — or chain spiders, those e-mails that
ask you to sign a list or send a recipe. If an e-mail says
"forward," hit delete, Kilos says.
For CC and BCC — mind your P's and Q's. Are you your friendly
neighborhood clearinghouse for e-mail forwards? Try creating BCC
distribution lists so that recipient addresses are concealed. It
makes for a leaner e-mail, and it prevents addresses from being
plucked and added to other lists without permission. For workplace
e-mails, remember that people in the To field are expected to
respond, while those in the CC field are added for informational
purposes. But don't be tempted to add recipients who don't belong on
the thread — like including bosses just so you can "e-tattle" on a
co-worker. "It's never a good thing for the e-tattler," Kilos says.
I hate your cute e-stationery. Graphic-rich templates may look
clever, but they eat up space in a recipient's mailbox. They could
trigger your spam filter to interpret embedded links as malicious
and dump your e-mail directly into a spam folder. Also, limit your
signature to text only — including color and fancy fonts adds
unnecessary bulk. Also consider sending your e-mails as plain text
for the same reason.
Your e-mail is my e-mail. Wrong. Treat personal e-mails you receive
as confidential, and do not crib or forward them without permission.
And just in case your e-mail does get forwarded, don't write
anything that you wouldn't want your mother to see or published in
The New York Times.
"I'm sorry, I can't. Don't hate me." Sex and the City fans will
remember how Carrie Bradshaw was dumped on a Post-it note. Tacky?
Cowardly? Lazy? You bet. For those same reasons, avoid broaching
ultrasensitive or potentially devastating topics by e-mail.
Similarly, avoid formally inviting friends and relatives to your
wedding electronically. For some events — like announcing your baby
or expressing condolences over a death — go to the card store. Want
to save paper? Then pick up the phone. "The culture may be changing,
but if it keeps going in this direction, we run the risk of losing
our humanity," Kilos says.
Worldwide E-mail Traffic
Messages Per Day
2008: 210 billion
2009: 247 billion
2010: 294 billion
2011: 349 billion
2012: 419 billion
SOURCE: The Radiate Group, a technology market research firm.
