May 20, 2008
I remember the first time I ever used email. I thought it was cool but really cumbersome. This was when the Internet was still in its infancy, and I had to type in code in order to send a message to a friend who also had an account at the college we attended. There was no Hotmail, no Yahoo, no Gmail. It was just a blue computer screen and some nonsense code and my message.
It seemed easier to talk just using my new mobile phone (which, by the way, weighed about 8 pounds and got no reception).
Things have certainly changed, and while I cannot imagine life without email, there are things that bug me about it.
When people don’t email me back.
Hey, I understand that people are busy. If they’re anything like me, they get like 500 emails a day—mostly SPAM, but some that require an action or reply. I don’t expect an instant reply, but within 48 hours would be nice. Recently, I was organizing an event at work and needed to know how many would attend. After weeks of sending emails and asking who would attend, half a dozen people still had not responded. In desperation, I finally emailed them this: “I don’t care it you come or not. I just need a count. Email back YES or NO.”
Still nothing!
So I figure they’re not coming. Of course, at this point I could have actually walked down the hall and asked them if they were coming, but what’s the point of email then? Plus, if I ask them about it personally, there’ll be that awkward sorry-I-didn’t-respond-to-your-email apology. Then I have to say that it’s okay, but really it’s not because it if were okay, I wouldn’t have had to email them 8 times and then walk over there!
So anyway, where was I? Oh, right. So I figured they wouldn’t show. And then, of course, they did.
The useless Reply All
Sometimes, in the spirit of efficiency, people send an email to several recipients. I’m all for this. Recently, a friend of mine sent a mass email to let everyone know that her dog had emergency surgery and might not make it through. The email must have gone to 60 people. I emailed her back privately, but some people hit Reply All. Those emails just clogged my Inbox. They were sweet but not meant for me. I didn’t even know most of the people.
Failure to Trim
I completely understand, in a business situation, keeping the original emails at the bottom of the page. One or more of the parties involved in the decision may need to refer back to something mentioned in an earlier email. The Jaunty Quills do this all the time when we’re making decisions about this blog. Sometimes we ever chime in using different colors to differentiate our responses.
But when I send someone a personal email, why keep my letter in the reply? If I send a letter via snail mail, no one would return it with their letter. I think not trimming personal emails is kind of weird for some reason.
So am I alone? Do any of these things bug you? What bugs you about email?
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Laura Says:
I think it’s more in a work environment but I hate trimmed emails because it’s not like I send out one email a week and have nothing else going on but waiting for the reply. There’s one particular person that never includes the original email and it might be a week later that I get a reply that says “Yes”. That’s it! And it’s like “what the heck did I ask her???”
Anyway, that’s one of my email pet peeves.
Emily McKay Says:
I admit I’m guilty of not trimming emails. It’s just laziness on my part.
Something changed recently in my mail program and now it’s awkward to trim out stuff after I’ve hit reply (instead I have to highlight and then hit reply). Sometimes I forgot to highlight and then I just start typing. And it’s just a pain.
I’m sure that makes me part of the problem.
But, Shana, I too remember the old, old, old, email. Back when my hubby first graduated from college and moved to Austin, I was still in college and we used to send emails back and forth that way. It wasn’t even called email then. That was a *long* time ago.
Margo Maguire Says:
I love email. I love not having to actually talk to people - not that I don’t talk - I really do! But when you’re arranging something and need to make 40 phone calls … That’s when email is the best!
My new email program DOES NOT ALLOW me to cut the previous message when I hit reply. This really bugs me and I’m looking for something else to use. I’ll take any suggestions!
RobynDeHart Says:
Margo, try Eudora, it was my favorite email program for years. I’d still use it now if Macmail didn’t work so well with other programs.
I too love email and remember the weird beginnings in the computer lab in college. I really don’t know what I’d do without it. Working alone at home, it’s my lifeline to the outside world. And like Margo said, it prevents me from having to talk to real-life people which in some cases is preferable.
Dorothy Says:
I really hate the ‘Reply All’ thing. I don’t want to be privy to other people’s email responses nor do I want to get into the middle of an argument that might be going on.
Other than that, I really love email. I can answer it on my own schedule, which can be very hectic at times. Love that part of it!
limecello Says:
I’m huge on email. Love it. I try to reply as quickly as possible- sometimes I even have to hold back, because I think it freaks people out if you reply within 5 minutes. I check my email obsessively.
As to the reply all… can’t stand it. I’ve been a part of groups etc that would send out the most inane things. And trimming is very important - which is why I love gmail. If you forget to do it, they do it for you with the “show quoted text.”
And I HATE when people don’t respond when you’re trying to plan things. Of course, somehow I always get the joy of being the planner.
brownone Says:
Well, e-mail has been a great way for me to keep in touch with acquantances in Miami since I don’t really go down there that often anymore since moving to north Florida seven years ago. But I’d have to say my irritation is those stupid “chain mail” things…especially the political and religious ones. UGH!! The minute I see them I just hit the trash button without opening it. Oh, and I’ve been getting a LOT of those irritating ones where I have one million dollars in a Nigerian Bank account or some person in England has thousands of dollars for me if I contact a certain barister. Those annoy me. What is scary is that some of them, like this one trying to verify a paypal account, seem SO real. Anyone could get duped by it. Lucky thing I shut off my paypal account long ago or I would never have known. They keep sending me something saying there is suspicous paypal activity on my account. I just forward those to Paypal so they can deal with it.
Fedora Says:
I remember that ancient e-mail stuff, too–boy, that was a while ago
I agree with Laura, I don’t mind not trimming because sometimes I prefer to have more context rather than less. If the person is writing a complete, real letter, than including the original message probably isn’t necessary, but it doesn’t really bother me either.
And reply all is usually really annoying except in a few instances when it’s kind of useful, like when you’re planning a potluck and WANT to know what everyone else is bringing…
And uh, I’m probably guilty of not responding promptly to e-mails, so I’m going to avoid further comment
Amy Addison Says:
I like e-mail because I can get to business at any hour of the day.
I am bothered by people who leave the whole e-mail attached. Only quote the part you’re replying to, specifically, please.
This is especially trying when people don’t cut out original e-mails when replying to a DIGEST.
Grrr…
Sarah Says:
Margo, also check out Thunderbird, it is from the same people who do Firefox. It runs on both Windows and OS X.
Mary Says:
I hate it when people send me forwards that have been forwarded fifty times and no one in the whole string has trimmed the addresses from the top, so I have to scroll and scroll and scroll to get to the joke. It might have been funny, but by the time I get down there, I’m not in the mood for the joke anymore.
Using BCC solves the “reply all” issue, but only if the original person actually uses it. I think 90% of the population doesn’t know it’s there or doesn’t know what it’s for. I always use it unless I’m only sending it to a few (under 5) people and want everyone to see that I’ve also sent the message to those other people for some reason.