We are enrolled in a large number of email lists of various kinds: Egroups.Com and Topica.Com are among the companies who host these services. It can be very useful to receive information this way. What happens is several dozen to several hundred (or more) people sign up for the list so that they can take part in online discussions of certain topics.
As I said, these can be very informative - and they can also be very entertaining.
What often happens is someone will post a remark of some kind and he will get flamed (a hostile response, often involving cursing). The two will start throwing comments back and forth, and before long others jump in to add their two cents.
I've seen these "wars" go on for days and hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of posts (usually this kind of abuse occurs on newsgroups - people who are receiving emails of this kind of nonsense usually protest and put a stop to it much more quickly.)
What is really happening is sometimes it is difficult to understand that something said in email (hence in writing) automatically takes on more force than something said orally. On top of that, people will say things in email that they would never dream of saying to someone's face.
What people really need to remember is email etiquette. There are some simple "rules" to follow which will make email communications much simpler.
Think for a second before sending your email. I usually take an extra couple of seconds to ask myself "how would I react if I got this message?"
- Don't say anything in email you would not say to a person's face.
- Don't write anything in an email message which you would not want repeated to your boss, wife or best friend.
- Don't type in all caps (this is interpreted as shouting).
- It's a good idea to avoid cursing
- Don't respond to flames
- Don't get involved in flame wars
- You are well advised to resist the opportunity to call that person with the naive questions a babbling idiot.
- Keep your cool
- Don't give out anyone's personal information (including his email address, address or phone number).
- If you are sending to a number of people, use Blind Carbon copy.
And please, most important of all, remember that you are dealing with human beings, not emotionless machines. Sometimes a carelessly worded email can hurt more than anything else.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.