Impersonal emails

In
a world in which communication is fast-paced and quick responses are expected,
is etiquette in everyday interactions an antiquated ideal? Why or why not?

I really enjoy Ms. Jardine’s
podcasts because she is rational and unbiased while seemingly covering all
sides of the issues she discusses. The podcast, “Email Etiquette,” is no
different. She brings up excellent points that should be considered when
dealing with emails.
A large portion of our readings and
podcasts are about this fear and negative stigma around technological change.
However, we should remember “Early uses of technological innovations are
essentially conservative because their capacity to create social disequilibrium
is intuitively recognized amidst declarations of progress and enthusiasm for the
new” (Marvin). Therefore, we are already tempering our progress made because of
this fear of technological change. I think that is important to note.
I
did like the idea of being able to have more ability to prevent sending messages
too abruptly. In the Technical Writing course I am taking right now, our
professor, Carol Peters, discusses email etiquette very often. She warns us of
angry emails and how easy it is to send something you will later regret.
Ms. Jardine also brought up a good
point when discussing responding to emails sent to her. She noted how people
who email her do not always email to her very politely or with “courtesies
enshrined in traditional letter writing.” She said how when she responds to the
email people backtrack on their criticism and Ms. Jardine becomes a “recipient
of the communication.” The correspondence provides some humanity in the
communication.
On the other hand, letter writing
always seems to have some personality to it. I do not know if it is the
handwriting or the fact it takes longer to send a letter than it does an email,
but letters are definitely more personal. When I was in high school I enjoyed
getting written letters from basketball coaches recruiting me. I knew their
interest in me was much higher because they took the time to handwrite the
letter. I also emailed the same coaches who wrote the letters, but the
handwriting forms were a good complement to our other forms of communication.
This
is what I think letters and other forms of communication that are not online
will eventually become. They will become a partner with online communication
that holds more significance. Books could become like this, even talking face
to face could become a compliment to emailing. However, there will always be
importance in our “old” ways of communicating.

Marvin,
Carolyn. “When Old Technologies Were New.” 1988.