E-mail is a basic part of Internet use. Below are some common guidelines and tips on sending e-mail, as well as proper e-mail netiquette and tips to get the most out of your e-mail client.
E-mail Structure
Sending e-mail is much like sending regular mail through the post office. In order for your e-mail to get to the person you are sending it to, you must know their e-mail address. E-mail addresses have a certain format that you must follow. Although everyone has a unique e-mail address, the format is pretty much the same: name@domain name.com For instance, your Inland Internet e-mail address is your username@inlandnet.com.
In addition to the e-mail address of the recipient, a typical e-mail also contains a subject and a message body. The subject of the e-mail, although not required, is usually an important part of the e-mail. The subject tells the recipient what the message is about, and it is considered polite and proper to always include at least a short description in the subject line.
Once you have finished writing your e-mail, you should spell check it. Most common e-mail programs have a spell checking feature that you can turn on or off. It is considered polite to check you e-mail for proper spelling before sending it. It is also a good idea not to use caps lock when composing an e-mail message. Typing messages in all capitol letters is considered shouting, and it may inadvertantly offend the recipient. After you have looked over the e-mail, you can send it simply by clicking on the send button. Once your e-mail has been sent, the recipient only has to check his/her e-mail and there it will be in a matter of seconds! Many e-mail programs, like the one shown above, allow you to add different colors, text sizes, images, and even sounds. These types of e-mail are called HTML messages. With most programs, learning these techniques is quite easy, and can even be fun. But remember, not all people can receive such colorful messages. Many have just text based e-mail clients, which will only allow them to see the text of the message, and nothing else. So it's wise to make sure that the recipient can receive HTML messages before you send them any.
Receiving E-mail
When starting your e-mail client, it will normally check your e-mail for you automatically. It may remember your password, or it may ask you for it every time. Once the connection has been verified with the mail server, it will begin download your mail. Depending on how many e-mail messages you have, how large they are, and whether or not they have attachments, the download process may take anywhere from a couple of seconds to several minutes. There is usually an indicator display that shows you the progress of the mail being downloaded. If it seems like it's taking a long time to retrieve your mail, then it's probably due to a large file attached to one of the e-mail messages being downloaded. These can take a long time and can become a bit annoying. But try not to interrupt the process unless it's absolutely necessary or you think that something has gone wrong. Hitting the cancel button before all of your mail is retrieved is not recommendeds. And if you do have a large attachment, then you will just have to go through the same process all over again.
After you receive your mail, and read it, decide what you are going to do with it. If you wish to reply to the sender, it is courteous to reply as quickly as possible. You can also forward the message to others if you wish to share it with them. If you don't wish to keep the e-mail, you can delete it. If it's worth keeping, you can file it in a different folder, or keep it in your in-box. Try not to let unwanted e-mail pile up in your in-box as each message takes up some space on your hard drive. Also, make it a habit to empty the trash folder on occasion to prevent degradation of performance in your e-mail client.
E-mail Netiquette
As with anything, there are certain guidelines you should follow when it comes to e-mail. We will describe some of the do's and don'ts of sending e-mail, and what you should do if someone harasses you through electronic mail.
Spam - Spam is the term used for junk e-mail on the Internet; that is, e-mail that is unexpected, un-asked for, and unwanted. The term comes from a famous Monty Python skit where spam is the main item on the menu. The big reason for the outcry against spam is that the cost falls on the receiver, not the sender. First, people pay for their Internet time, and most people don't want to spend it downloading a bunch of junk e-mail they didn't ask for, and don't want.
When you receive spam in your in-box, the sender is wasting both your time and your money. Some spam comes from the desire to spread good news, warn others of potential disaster, and/or a call to action. Many urban myths, legends and chain letters are circulated around the Internet innocently. Among the most famous are the requests to send cards to a boy with a brain tumor, the "good times" virus, and the Neiman-Marcus cookie recipe. So, when you get a message from a friend or through a mailing list that has potential to be a myth, check it out before you send it to all your friends, relatives, and every mailing list on which you are a subscriber.
Here are a few good places to inquire into the potential urban legend status of a message you receive. If you wish to learn more about spam and how to avoid it, click on the following links: Get that spammer! and How to get rid of junk mail, spam, and tele-marketers.
Chain Letters - Chain letters are basically a way to get someone else to spam for you. They involve sending people messages which instruct them to redistribute the messages to some number of other people. They can be annoying, and very rude. And aside from that, in many places they are also illegal and have in the past led to individuals losing their internet access. So, if you see a chain letter, it is usually best to just delete it and not pass it along. Various internet hoaxes are also related to chain letters.
Mass Mailing and Carbon Copy (Cc:) - Almost every e-mail program allows you the opportunity to distribute e-mail via carbon copy(Cc:) or blind carbon copy(Bcc:). This is a very good tool if you are going to send e-mail to multiple individuals. The problem comes when some people use regular carbon copy instead of blind carbon copy, and they e-mail something to a whole bunch of people. When you don't use Bcc:, everybody's e-mail address appears in the headers of the e-mail. Not only can this make the e-mail extremely long, but you may not realize how some friends of yours enjoy the privacy of their e-mail addresses, and it's a good idea to respect this privacy. Finally, it's important to remember that some (not always knowingly) people set their e-mail clients to automatically respond to all the e-mail addresses in the headers. That can cause a large mess, because it just creates unneeded mass mailings. So, in short, if you are sending an e-mail to a large group of people, use Blind Carbon Copy whenever possible.
Binary Attachments - One of the really nice features about current e-mail programs is that many of them allow us to send files as attachments to other users. This, in many ways, is a very good thing. This saves on long distance bills and printing costs. It also, however, presents a problem, because large attachments can take a long time to download, and there is always the risk of obtaining a computer virus by opening an e-mail attachment that is infected. So, if you're going to send an attachment, ask or let the recipient know before hand. It is also wise to never open an attachment that you receive from someone that you don't know. Computer virus can be very dangerous and render your computer useless. You should have a virus scanner, and always be leery of an e-mail attachment that you haven't been expecting.
Harassment - Sometimes people can get upset and have disagreements while chatting or posting messages on bulletin boards. This can sometimes lead to harassment via e-mail. Nobody likes to be harassed in any way, and it's just as illegal on the internet as it is otherwise. If someone is harassing you through e-mail, the best thing to do is take steps to prevent it from happening again. Be cautious of your online habits. Don't give out your e-mail address freely, or post it on bulletin boards. Avoid posting too much personal information about yourself on public profiles, or chat rooms. If you are being harassed or threatened, don't delete any messages that you receive from the harassor as this is evidence against them. Information in the headers of e-mail messages can be used to track the message back to its original source. With the information in those headers, your ISP may be able to help you eliminate any more harassing messages.
There are also several forms of direct response you can take. You might write a strong e-mail to the harassor promising to take legal action if he or she does not desist. But be prepared. This may just annoy the perpetrator even more, causing more problems. A safer route might be to seek outside help. Among the most important steps would be to get in touch with CyberAngels, a dedicated group of volunteers determined to expose and eradicate online stalking and harassment. The resources they offer include professional referrals for counseling and advice and assistance in tracking down stalkers and bringing their activities to a halt. It is a good idea to get your ISP involved and keep them informed. It may also be necessary to contact the local police or other law enforcement agencies. But remember, if you don't have any evidence, there is nothing they can do. So save those messages where they can be called up later if needed.
Now that you know the basics for composing and retrieving e-mail, and proper e-mail netiquette, you can begin using e-mail with ease. Remember, these are just the basics, and there is much more you can do with a good e-mail client. Practice makes perfect, and you can even practice by sending e-mail to yourself! Have fun!
