email

media type="custom" key="27779573" align="right"Email Tips
on this page: buzzwords, core skills, survey related: communication, spam flickr: [|email tips] slideshare: [|email tips] (10,000+ views) editing: http://planeta.com/email

Essay
It would be presumptuous to call for the end of email, but it would be wise to suggest we could use email more wisely.

When it comes to email, we need to acknowledge its usefulness as a tool for communication. Email is a useful information delivery system. That said, I'm not a fan.

The question for email senders is 'are you using email because it is the most effective for you or the receiver of your message?'

Too often the answer is that we send email because it's easier for us rather than those who receive our message.

Let's use email for personal messages, business offers and private communication that should not be conveyed through other means. That said, how is one to avoid spam, email blasts and mass cc announcements?

There are plenty of alternatives to email for those using the social web and it's up to those initiating a conversation to keep an eye on the multitude of channels for communication and to engage 'respondents' in a conversation about how to improve the conversation.

If I am tired of email, it is not because of the quantity of email but rather the quality of the messages. I receive far too many public announcements sent as private messages and private queries asking for my time without offering anything in return. Among my pet peeves: the barrage of personal queries sent by friends who refuse to look at my photos on Flickr, tweets on Twitter, videos on YouTube. 'What's new?', they ask without being aware that I'm sending out plenty of clues elsewhere on the Web.

What if we were to think not of ourselves but those who receive our messages? It's time to ask friends and professional colleagues how they would actually like mutual communication. Email is one of many tools in the communication toolbox. It can and should be leveraged with tweets, blog posts, YouTube videos (and comments!), wikis and the vast array of options we have via the social web and face-to-face communication. Start with empathy and this email tip: [|send messages others would like to receive].

Recommended listening
[|You've got mail] - It's estimated there were over 2.4 billion email users worldwide in 2013 but as the volume increases what does it mean for the future of our already bulging inboxes?

[|Spam, spam, spam] - It’s the curse of the modern information age and the bad news is that there’s more of it to come.

[|The tyranny of email] - A conversation about the enormous growth in email traffic and the effect it is having on our lives, our culture, our workplace and our psychological wellbeing.

Core Skills (Adventures in Digital Literacy!)
Have you created an email address? Can you login on your laptop? On your phone? On your tablet? Do you know the passwords to access your emails? Have you updated the signature line in your email? Have you changed the subject line in an email reply? Have you forwarded an email? Have you learned the difference between CC (Carbon Copy) and BCC ([|Blind Carbon Copy]) Instead of sending attachments, have you posted info online?

Apps
[|Mailbox]

Worksheets

 * **English**

Want to reduce your email intake? Use the social web and follow the directions ...

1. A variation of the Platinum Rule: //Send messages others would like to receive.//

2. Instead of forwarding news via email, post it on your blog, facebook page, twitter or a relevant forum that welcomes such news. Remember to [|cite your source!]

5. The best attachment in an email is usually no attachment. If you wish to send an attachment, ask first.

6. State it clearly in your message if you are requesting a response.

7. Learn the difference between CC (Carbon Copy) and BCC ([|Blind Carbon Copy]) and do not CC more than a handful of colleagues who know each other. Protect the privacy of your correspondents and their email addresses. BCC works best if you need to email more than a few people who do not know each other.

8. Participate in public online forums that do not show your email unless it is with your permission.
 * BEYOND EMAIL**

9. [|Be generous]. Support the websites you would like to consult next week.

10. When possible, do not send email. Call, visit, flickr or blog. Viva the social web!

DON'Ts
Do not add anyone to a mailing list without their consent.

Do not forward chain letters or petitions. They have no effect beyond annoying the recipient.

Do not send unsolicited attachments

Do not type in capitals. THIS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING || **Español**

Quieres reducir el flujo de correos electrónicos? Usa las redes de comunicación social y sigue las siguientes recomendaciones.

1. Una variación de la Regla de Platino: Envía correos electrónicos que otros quisieran recibir.

2. En lugar de reenviar noticias de terceros vía correo-electronico, escribe una entrada en tu blog, pagina facebook, twitter o en un foro relevante que reciba este tipo de noticias. Recuerda siempre [|citar la fuente.]

5. Por lo general el mejor documento adjunto al correo electónico es ninguno. Si deseas enviar un documento adjunto, pregunta antes.

6. Indica claramente si en tu correo electrónico estas solicitando una respuesta o una acción específica.

7. Aprende la diferencia entre usar CC (Con Copia) y BCC (Con Copia Oculta, [|Blind Carbon Copy] en ingles). Incluye en el CC solamente a unos cuantas personas que se conozcan entre ellas. Protege la privacidad de tus contactos y sus direcciones de correo electrónico. BCC funciona mejor cuando necesitas mandar un mensaje a unos personas que no conoce uno al otro.

MÁS ALLÁ DEL CORREO ELECTRÓNICO
Participa en foros públicos en línea que no muestren tu dirección de correo, a menos que te pidan permiso.

[|Se generoso.] Apoya los sitios de Internet que te gustaría consultar la próxima semana.

10. Cuando sea posible, no uses correo electrónico. Llama, visita a las personas, participa en flickr o publica en tu blog. ¡Vivan las redes de comunicación social!

DON'Ts
No añadas a nadie a una lista de correos sin su consentimiento.

No reenvíes cadenas o peticiones. No tienen efecto alguno más que molestar a los destinatarios.

Do not send unsolicited attachments

Do not type in capitals. THIS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING ||

Buzzword Bingo
Account - Attachments - Automatic Reply - Backup - BCC - CC - Communication - **Email** - Facebook - Forward - Gmail - Hotmail - Mail - Reply - Reply All - Settings - Signature - Spam - Subject Line - Template - Tools - Vacation Responder - Yahoo

Surveys
http://planeta.com/1605emailsurvey media type="custom" key="28499667"

Once a week or less A few times a week Daily More than a few times a day
 * Survey: How often do you check email?**

Question
How am I supposed to send you a written document if you don't want attachments via email?

Translating: Is there an email equivalent to a telephone 'do not call' list? Spanish: ¿Hay un equivalente de correo electrónico a la lista teléfonica de "No llamar”?

Quotes
It seems that in today’s society it is completely okay to receive an email and just flat out ignore it, pretending that you didn’t receive it. And don’t get me started on ‘cc’ or ‘reply all’ emails. They are pretty much pointless. When you send an email to a large group asking for feedback, the chances that you receive any valuable feedback from individuals in the group is next to none. Everyone seems to thinks that someone else will respond. Or worse, people respond but fail to ‘reply all,’ creating a bunch of siloed responses that you have to gather into a single doc and redistribute for FINAL feedback (this just turns into a vicious circle), or try to forward to the individuals that you think are stakeholder in the project. Inevitably, it wastes your time and you do not end up with a collaborative dialogue. Furthermore, there is no easy way to refer back to the conversation if you, or someone, else has questions about how or why a decision was made. - https://blog.bloomfire.com/posts/547520-email-where-people-hide/public

Whatever its origins, the @ appeared on the keyboard of the first typewriter, the American Underwood, in 1885 and was used, mostly in accounting documents, as shorthand for “at the rate of.” It remained an obscure keyboard character until 1971 when an American programmer, Raymond Tomlinson, added it to the address of the first e-mail message to be sent from one computer to another. - [|Why @ Is Held in Such High Design Esteem - NYTimes.com]

The AP Stylebook, the de facto style and usage guide for much of the news media, announced on Friday that the abbreviated term for “electronic mail” is losing a hyphen, and with it, a relic of a simpler time when Internet technology needed to be explained //very// carefully. - [|Mashable] (March 2011)

Some people have come up with their own solutions to the problems email presents. Luis Suarez, lead social business enabler for IBM, decided to take on his inbox several years ago, and by all accounts seems to have won. He said he had moved most of his communication to public and social platforms. When people contact Mr. Suarez by email, unaware that he is not a fan of that route, he scans their email signature for a social network they use and then responds in a public forum, whether on Twitter, Google Plus or LinkedIn. This way, he says, he can deal with several messages at once. - http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/disruptions-looking-for-relief-from-a-flood-of-email

Pet Peeves
Loathsome Spam Long response times up to weeks and months Messages that have nothing to do with the subject line

Flickr
[|consejos] [|email tips] [|print this email]

slideshare
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A WORD ABOUT ATTACHMENTS First rule -- do not send unsolicited attachments. If you wish to send an attachment, ask the recipient beforehand. Keep in mind that Internet service in the developing world remains much slower than in the United States or Europe. An attachment that takes 30 seconds to download in an wired town such as Austin, Texas might take five minutes south of the border.

CC and BCC There are times, however, when you may wish to share news with a group. It is easy to do this with a "Cc" (Carbon Copy) message so that everyone knows that you are sending your message to a group of people (or "Bcc" (Blind Carbon Copy) when you do not want the recipients to have each other's email. The general rule of thumb -- the **more** people cc'ed on a message, the **less** attention any one person pays to that message. Repeating the request -- do not include a Planeta.com address in any 'cc' list of people we do not know.

EMAIL NEWSLETTERS Travelers are most likely to trust operations with an established history. So much the better if you can document your own history. Email newsletters are a handy tool, though be forewarned against employing an [|email blast].

Two critical tips - never add anyone to a mailing list without their permission. And always provide the receiver with an 'opt out' option. For businesses, consider posting the newsletter on your website as an addition to delivering it via email. Always give the receiver multiple options to access your news. Is your newsletter available via RSS?

Please, more options to opt out of spam delivered by [|Constant Contact].



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Responding to Mailing Lists and Newsletters that you just don't want
Can you remove me from this mailing list? Personal emails are fine but instead of newsletters, I prefer interactions via twitter or facebook.

Tips
When you receive a message from someone you don't know and who offers a commercial service, here's my easy tip to decide on what to do next:

If they don't use your name or show familiarity with your website, ignore them. It's not worth your time.

Misc
I find it ironic when Buddhists send me emails with attachments. They should know better.

Elsewhere on the Web
http://www.postbox-inc.com http://www.technologyreview.com/news/508471/startups-aim-to-bring-e-mail-back-to-the-future http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/opinion/end-the-tyranny-of-24-7-email.html https://theconversation.com/email-is-still-a-problem-that-google-and-others-are-happy-to-keep-that-way-37885 https://www.wired.com/story/how-email-open-tracking-quietly-took-over-the-web/

Tutorials (en español)
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Check Email
http://mail2web.com

Removing Spam http://unroll.me

**Editing**
[|Email 101]

Headlines
https://www.themuse.com/advice/your-stepbystep-guide-to-reaching-inbox-zero-even-if-you-currently-have-1000-unread-emails [|Official Biography: Raymond Tomlinson]

Gmail
Send free SMS directly from Gmail - just enter a phone number and click Enter. SMS replies come right to your Gmail inbox. See which [|mobile operators] are supported. http://mashable.com/2013/05/29/gmail-new-inbox http://gmailblog.blogspot.mx/2013/05/a-new-inbox-that-puts-you-back-in.html http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/big-changes-coming-to-your-gmail-inbox/276349 http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-look-inside-how-youre-using-inbox.html

Embedded tweets
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https://twitter.com/rmbyrne/status/827640756370305028

Misc Honestly, I don't hate email as much as I hate my email browser. (This could be a bumpersticker .... or a bad, geeky song).

Please check for new email