Salutations and Closings in E-mail - Am I Expecting Too Much?

[HejazSunKat]

Am I old fashioned? Am I expecting too much of e-mail communication? I can't tell you how many times I've received e-mail without either a salutation, closing or both. Happened to me this morning as a matter of fact. The person I'd written to wrote me back with just the information I'd requested - no hello, no goodbye. Is it so difficut to be courteous? Is this just the surly way of the world nowadays?

[krhm]

I always close an email with my name and usually something like "thanks!" but you're right...not everyone does. One of the first lessons in my online class is netiquette, and opening and closing an email just as you would a letter is one of the rules. Even still, few students remember to do so!

Kari

[slawrence]

Linda, I agree. I get emails that are the bare minimum, including no manners either. When I send an email at work, I usually end it with 'thanks' and add my name even though I have signature line at the bottom. Email is so fast and simple but it is no excuse for cutting out salutations. I'm with you! Kari-it's nice that you teach the 'netiquette'. I have tried to teach by example at work but it doesn't seem to sink in. Sue

[ellielk]

That's interesting. I've always been told that an e-mail is in the same format as a paper memo with the To: and From: and Subject; lines and therefore, doesn't require a greeting.

While I do usually end with 'Thanks' or something similar, I've never taken it as a lack of courtesy if there's no greeting because there wouldn't be in a paper memo.

[Escher]

Originally posted by HejazSunKat
Am I old fashioned? Am I expecting too much of e-mail communication? I can't tell you how many times I've received e-mail without either a salutation, closing or both. Happened to me this morning as a matter of fact. The person I'd written to wrote me back with just the information I'd requested - no hello, no goodbye. Is it so difficut to be courteous? Is this just the surly way of the world nowadays?

Yes. Yes. Yes. No. Yes.

[mom2garret]

Originally posted by Escher


Yes. Yes. Yes. No. Yes.

*snort*

That being said, I do agree that ending an email with a simple:
Thanks, take care, etc......
*sender name here*
would suffice.
Jodi

[Gracie]

Escher - you have an extra response in there! :D

I also try to have beginning and ending salutations in my emails but I fall short when I'm having a back-and-forth discussion with people via email that's similar to instant messaging. For example, when we are both sitting at our computers responding instantly to new messages. At that point I slack off because it's a continuing of the conversation and I've already said hello (and signed!).

Loren

[Escher]

Originally posted by Gracie
Escher - you have an extra response in there! :D

Nope, the subject line had a question, as well.

[oskie]

There was a recent article in Slate (http://slate.msn.com/id/2115223/) on something similar. In this case, it's about the cultural differences between American email, which tends to be much more informal, vs. the European style of writing.

[tamawrite]

Except on quick e-memos between co-workers, through which we exchange brief messages many times daily, I always use salutations and closings. I also put extra thought into phrasing that makes clear my intentions, so as to avoid the accidental offenses that may result from the lack of facial expressions in e-writing.

[Chefzhat]

tee hee Linda - I always consider myself lucky when I get e-mails that have all the words spelled out! :D

Here's some of the "net-bonics" I've received professionally:

CUL8R
Y
NJMC
JMHO
R U going to (location)
TTFN

Combine the above with the plethora of "alphabet soup" letters of different educational terms and my e-mails look like some kind of code I need to crack!

[Canice]

I guess it depends on the nature of the exchange. As Loren mentioned, if you're writing back and forth in a conversational or IM style it's overkill. But if it's more of a personal letter "Dear Linda, I've been thinking of you lately..." I can't imagine leaving out a salutation or closing.

On a related matter: subject lines. In personal email (unless it's urgent or highly specific) I don't think they're important, especially for a brief communication. I have a friend with whom I exchange very brief emails ("Hi - I got your message; Friday at 7 is perfect. See you then.") and I don't generally put anything in the subject line, so she always responds with "re: Your email". What's the point? Another friend puts the day she's sending the email as a subject line which is more ambiguous than nothing at all.
I guess it's just because I'm going to open an email from a friend as soon as it's convenient for me, whether or not it says "How are you?" or "Hi!!!!" in the subject line. I suppose I could just accomodate people who wonder, "Why in heck is my dear friend Canice sending me an email? I wonder what she wants? What's up with that?" ...but I probably won't. I still send letters surface mail too but don't write on the back of the envelope "just writing to catch up on life" or "been thinking of you"....

[Kayaksoup]

Originally posted by Canice
I guess it depends on the nature of the exchange. As Loren mentioned, if you're writing back and forth in a conversational or IM style it's overkill. But if it's more of a personal letter "Dear Linda, I've been thinking of you lately..." I can't imagine leaving out a salutation or closing.

On a related matter: subject lines. In personal email (unless it's urgent or highly specific) I don't think they're important, especially for a brief communication. I have a friend with whom I exchange very brief emails ("Hi - I got your message; Friday at 7 is perfect. See you then.") and I don't generally put anything in the subject line, so she always responds with "re: Your email". What's the point? Another friend puts the day she's sending the email as a subject line which is more ambiguous than nothing at all.
I guess it's just because I'm going to open an email from a friend as soon as it's convenient for me, whether or not it says "How are you?" or "Hi!!!!" in the subject line. I suppose I could just accomodate people who wonder, "Why in heck is my dear friend Canice sending me an email? I wonder what she wants? What's up with that?" ...but I probably won't. I still send letters surface mail too but don't write on the back of the envelope "just writing to catch up on life" or "been thinking of you"....

My mom and I email on an almost daily basis and rarely use the opening niceties, just signing off at the end. However, we have an ongoing, unwritten competition to see who can come up with the most creative subject line:p

[Escher]

There is a whole subculture of computer lingo. (leet-speek) ((l337))

basically, it consists of substituting similar looking characters for various letters and shorthand...

Didn't I ask about this in this forum some time ago? Maybe it was my other forum.... anyhow, they have their own catch-phrases, like this one:

http://forumspam.articblue.nl/misc/1337/images/0006.jpg

[colleency]

Originally posted by Escher
There is a whole subculture of computer lingo. (leek-speek) ((l337)




:o Um...I believe you mean "leet" for elite. I think leek-speek is more about chefs who email. :D

Here's more info on "all your base..." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us)

[Gail]

Oddly enough, the lack of salutation or closing doesn't bother me in the slightest-- presumably because I'm one of those people who rarely uses them. But then, I think that the format of the e-mail also depends upon the circumstance. My cousins and I are known to shoot one-liners back and forth at lightening speed, for example. If I'm sending a letter to a friend, I usually don't bother either. But, if I'm e-mailing a business letter, it will always have a salutation or closing. I don't KNOW these people and it seems inappropriate to me to write something so informal. I'm much more likely to take offense to a response which sounds curt, even if the writer has started with "Dear Mrs." and signed his or her name to the message.

I will say that for example with my mom's insurance agent we've written back and forth so many times(and we always attach a copy of the prior correspondence) that with most of our notes it's usually a case of dashing off a quick line, followed by "thanks."

[PAMMELA]

Originally posted by Canice
I have a friend with whom I exchange very brief emails ("Hi - I got your message; Friday at 7 is perfect. See you then.") and I don't generally put anything in the subject line, so she always responds with "re: Your email". What's the point?


We must have the same friend!:)

[Escher]

Originally posted by colleency


:o Um...I believe you mean "leet" for elite. I think leek-speek is more about chefs who email. :D

Here's more info on "all your base..." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us)

You are absolutely correct.

I was watching an Alton Brown re-run and leeks were the featured item recently...must've been stuck in my brain....

[HejazSunKat]

After reading all your responses I started thinking about my habits in various forms of electronic communication and I think I always use a salutation (even if it's just 'Hey!') in e-mail and IM and I always use a closing. The degree of familiarity of the relationship really doesn't matter.

I thought it was pretty abrupt to open an e-mail and see the information I'd requested sitting there all by itself and not:

Dear Linda:

Here's the information you requested:

Regards,
John Doe

How many more keystrokes is that and how much more civilized? Especially in a business context I think people should make the effort (not that I think it is one). *sigh* I'll just sit over here in my rocking chair and lament the demise of well-mannered society.

Debie - 'Netbonics', that's a new one on me. :D Did that arise because alot of people can't type I wonder?

[valchemist]

Originally posted by PAMMELA



We must have the same friend!:)

I think the "re: your email" is an automatic title line in some people's email programs. in other words, I don't think they actually type that in themselves. it gets put there automatically. I am sure there is also a way to shut it off, but I guess they don't want to or don't even know it is being done.

unless I have the same friend as both pammela and canice.

[jmarie]

My dear friend Linda,
At least it is some kind of communication and not all of the stupid FORWARDS that I receive, with never a note attached and everyone it was ever sent to, still attached.:rolleyes:
Sincerely,
Joyce

[Kay Henderson]

Linda--

When I started e-mailing, I assumed that since the "to" and "from" were clearly evident, that it was in the memo format.

Lately, I have at least signed my name at the end and sometimes begun with a greeting as well -- it just seems friendlier.

I don't, however, think that greetings and closings are mandatory, since my mindset is "memo."

Kay

[Canice]

Originally posted by valchemist
unless I have the same friend as both pammela and canice.

Wow, Val, wouldn't that be cool? ;)
Thank you, I had never considered that possibility.
<ohmygosh, editing to say that I had never considered the possibility that the subject line could have an auto-fill. Not that I had never considered that we all had the same friend!>

Linda, before seeing your second posting, I went back and reread your original comment and rethought my response. Had I sent you an email that said something like "Hey Linda - remember those cookies you brought to the picnic last month? Did you tell me they came from Cooking Light? If so, do recall which issue?" I would be surprised to get a response of "8/03". I see what you what you meant about getting just the bare response.

[Clover]

Greetings and closings or lack of them have never registered on my annoyance meter. Maybe everyone I know uses them--I've never noticed. This thread (www.chicklit.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=000097) on the Chicklit forums about how to sign off gives some idea of why some people would rather avoid the whole issue.

[Chefzhat]

HA - "net-bonics" - I'm starting my own language over here. Don't mind me :p

[HejazSunKat]

Originally posted by jmarie
My dear friend Linda,


Originally posted by Kay Henderson
Linda--

Originally posted by Canice
Linda,

Well, by jove, I do believe I've made the board a more civilized place! At least until it's time for us to square off for the next election. :D

Netbonically yours...

[JenniferJJ]

When I'm at work, I generally use "Hi George" or just "George," for the greeting. Unless it is a group email. I have a "signature" set up in my Outlook that has my name, job role, phone, fax and pager number and email address (not assumed since it may come across to people with just my name and not my email address). So, no need to add my name. I often add "Best regards". I know some people put "thanks" at the end of each email. To me, that doesn't make sense - I guess they do it to be polite, but if the person didn't do anything yet to be thanked for... I make sure I put "please" in all my requests, then thank them when (if) they do the request.

For personal emails, I use greetings and salutations, unless, as someone said, there had been previous recent communication and it's just now a conversation. I must admit, I find it hard sometimes to think of a title for the subject. I use "hello", but how does that distinguish me from their other friends who wrote "hello" in the subject line? Sometimes I write "Greetings from Michigan or my city" if it's to someone out of town".

But as Joyce wrote, my biggest problem is people who only send me these group emails with inspiration stuff, "why it's great to be a women" and say this prayer, you'll be blessed IF you send it to 10 people within 1 minute of reading this.

[Escher]

Bear in mind that some people use email like they would instant messaging...

And I doubt highly anyone signs each of their IM's....

[HejazSunKat]

Originally posted by Escher
And I doubt highly anyone signs each of their IM's....

When I started the thread I was thinking specifically of e-mails not all the rest...

Originally posted by JenniferJJ
I often add "Best regards". I know some people put "thanks" at the end of each email. To me, that doesn't make sense - I guess they do it to be polite, but if the person didn't do anything yet to be thanked for

A relative of mine has 'Thank you and take care' as part of his auto-signature which can sometimes come across as odd. Like you said, maybe I haven't done anything to be thanked for yet and I think the 'take care' part is a little too familiar for business communication plus which, it takes the sincerity of the wishes for my good health OUT to have it be part of a signature line that gets tacked onto every little thing. Well, there I go being stodgy again. :rolleyes:

[Lillith]

Originally posted by HejazSunKat
Well, there I go being stodgy again. :rolleyes:

Well said.

[jmarie]

*SNORT*

[Chefzhat]

Originally posted by Lillith


Well said.

Really. Was that necessary?:rolleyes:

[Molli526]

Originally posted by Lillith


Well said.

You are a really toxic person. Do you have to be so snide in all of your posts?

[jmarie]

She was just having some fun. Linda has fun all the time. Where's your sense of humor? :D
Warm regards,
Joyce

[badunnin]

If you really believe that Joyce, wanna buy a bridge? I have one to sell...

[Lillith]

Originally posted by jmarie
She was just having some fun. Linda has fun all the time. Where's your sense of humor? :D
Warm regards, Joyce

Thanks, honey. And Molli, all my posts are not snide; maybe one or two may differ from your point of view, but that hardly makes me toxic. You people crack me up. You can give opinions all you want (and some are in not such nice ways) but when someone else does, someone who might not be in the "inner circle", it gets your dander up. Well, as Linda said early on in one of her posts, this forum is for open discussions, sometimes leading into debates and differences of opinion. If it's good enough for everyone esle, it works both ways.

[Molli526]

Originally posted by jmarie
She was just having some fun. Linda has fun all the time. Where's your sense of humor? :D
Warm regards,
Joyce

I guess you have missed a lot of Lillith's posts lately.

I am just tired of people being rude when there is no need to be.

[jmarie]

If you really believe that Joyce, wanna buy a bridge?

Apparently you have not been reading a lot of Linda's posts. Albeit, I haven't read anything that toxic in the last couple of weeks, from her....but you gotta admit....

Come on y'all, where's your sense of fair play!
Joyce