Hi,

 Today we are learning about email…

This is for those of you who may have never received training on how to use email.

Recommended Internet Email Providers:

• Gmail(been using it since it came out in 2004)
  1. Has its own mobile client which can be downloaded from here
  2. Links well with Blackberry phones too.
• Yahoo Mail (used it before Gmail came out in 2004)
• Webmail (This is a South African company but I have never used it before )

Why have meaningful email address

I think we should old grow out of the [email protected] type of email addresses. If you know you are going to use your email address for many years to come why don’t you use [email protected] or [email protected]? You have a choice though. You can have something meaningful or Tough Guy type of thing.

Please Note: I have created a Tips & Tricks category just to share this kind of information.

Another concern: there are people who put www (e.g. [email protected]) in their email address. If you still do, please stop it and sign up with one of the above service providers using your name and surname.

Some email terminology:

1. TO: address of the person to whom you’re sending an email
2. CC: Stands for Carbon Copy – used when sending a copy of an email to a second recipient. Meaning, the main recipient is in the TO field and the secondary will be CC.
3. BCC: Stands for Blind CC and when you put a person’s email addresses in the BCC: rather than the CC: area, none of the recipients can see the addresses of the other email recipients. Useful when you send something you find interesting to your unrelated friends: Putting all of them in the BCC field is advised as they will not know who else got the email… Otherwise (if you CC everybody) some friend is going to press the Reply All button which is generally annoying.

Here are some security 101 rules about email:

1. Never give the password to your email address to anyone or website. I know facebook does this but don’t do it.
2. Always logout before you close your browser.

And if you don’t know how to communicate via email, here are some dos and don’ts ^1,2:

1. NEVER USE CAPITAL LETTERS (it’s actually a way of shouting)
2. Use a meaningful subject (Application for “ ____________ Internship Programme”)
3. One message, one topic
4. Provide context to frame your message.
5. Don’t forget the rules of grammar and punctuation (No Mixit stuff).
6. Remember: You don’t have to respond to every message right away (gather your thoughts first).
7. Always read your email before you send it. Every sentence and every word.

If you have anything you would like to add here please use the comments page below.

Further Reading

1. Anon. Email etiquette rules for effective email replies. Available at: http://emailreplies.com/. Accessed May 4, 2012.

2. Amit Asaravala. 14 Email Do’s and Don’ts. 14 Email Do’s and Don’ts. 2007. Available at: http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page6175.cfm. Accessed May 4, 2012.