When you use email to correspond with friends and others you know well, you can keep your writing informal. And do think twice before sending all your friends chain letters, pyramid scheme letters or long lists of jokes that have already been forwarded to millions of people or at least try to make sure they do not resent such email.

When it comes to email between friends, there are still a few issue of form to observe, such as not typing on ALL-CAPS (which makes it look as if you're screaming) and not typing the entire letter in lowercase (which makes it hard to read). In casual mail, the use of various emoticons - such as the happy face :) or the sad face :( and of common Web abbreviations (such as IMHO for "in my humble opinion" or ROTFLOL for "rolling on the floor laughing out loud") is common. So, too, are sig files and taglines - the additions to your email software that automatically add your name at the bottom of a letter and a favorite quote as well. Do be sure, though, that when you switch to writing academic or professional letters, you turn that function off. Most of the sig files students use when writing to each other would not be appropriate in more formal academic or professional settings.

In the issue of taglines, as in many other issues, the key point is to make a very clear distinction between your casual correspondence and your academic or professional correspondence. Academic and professional correspondence needs to be handled much more carefully.


To continue the section on Sending Electronic Communications,


1. Writing for Online Readers

2. Emails Dos and Don’ts

4. Handling Professional and Academic Correspondence

5. Attachments