Etiquette

In today’s world, it is much easier to send an email to a guy in another room as opposed to getting up, walking over, and talking face to face. We are certainly a simple solution type of society these days, and it is most certainly more simple to send an email, for example, criticizing someone for their work ethic, latest project, etc... rather than to call them in and talk face to face.


Personally, I think that face to face communication is undervalued in today’s world. I think that very few emails, letters, or anything can show the true emotion in a message to someone like face to face communication.

However, I do think that email is still a very important part of life in today’s world, as well as letters. That’s not really the point though. The point is that no matter what it is, we should try to be as proper as we possibly can when sending a message to another person. We should try and do as many things as possible to squeeze are emotions into words on paper or on the internet. A quote from a website with no author says, “It is important that whether for business or personal use that you follow the basics of email etiquette.”


In conclusion, I do think that it is extremely important to use proper etiquette in things such as email, but I also think that it wouldn’t hurt us to get back to some old fashioned face to face conversations either.

Letters still have their place

It’s all about convenience. What’s fastest. What’s easiest. What’s the most efficient means to an end. In this day and age of communication, there is no doubt, it is the ten second fingertips to a touchscreen text, or an on-a-whim email. What it is not, is a handwritten letter, complete with a forty-five cent stamp, appropriate stationary, and an envelope.
             Today, communication is often defined along boundaries of character limits, text-speak, abbreviations, hashtags and slang. Etiquette is gone, and so are our skills of English grammar.
             Growing up, my mother always instilled the ‘power of thank you’ belief in our family. This entailed, when being on the receiving end of a genuine gesture, such as receiving a gift, or having the opportunity to interview for a job, that you take the time to HANDWRITE a thank you letter. To many, snail mail is an antiquated system that is out of touch with the realities of modern day technology. Although it is in some ways not the most efficient way to communicate, I believe, it is the most effective in expressing your sincerest emotions. As Virginia Woolf stated, writing letters is “the human art which owes its origins to the love of friends.” When taking the time to handwrite a letter, quite simply, you are showing you care enough to thoughtfully lay out your feelings on paper, not simply type them on a screen and click send.
                Handwriting a letter also allows you to evaluate your writing style and grammar because it is a slower process. You have the ability to pause and reflect on ”nuance and tone,” as Woolf stated. Today, many students and young adults  don’t bother to check, or outright ignore, their grammar and spelling when texting or emailing, because it isn’t fast. They simply want to express their message through the quickest means possible.
                 As we’ve spoken about in previous classes and blog submissions, we may be becoming more stupid and lazy because of technology, because of emailing and texting. Are we losing the etiquette and writing skills of generations past? Unfortunately, I believe so. In this fast paced society things are expected to be done quickly and effectively.  There just isn’t always time to handwrite a letter. However, I believe that doesn’t make the practice obsolete. In fact, in ways, I believe it makes it even more powerful. Fewer and fewer people take the time to send letters, when you do, you stand out. You show that you are genuine and sincere. You show you care.




Azuz, Carl. "Talking texting." CNN. http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/01/talking-texting/.

Lost in Interpretation

            “A global survey shows that 67 percent of senior executives and managers say their organization would be more productive if their superiors communicated more often by personal discussion. While they desire more personal discussion from their superiors, however, the top personal method of communicating for these same business leaders is e-mail, based on the survey by NFI Research.” (Martin).

            Interesting, isn’t it? That we are constantly craving face-to-face interaction in both personal AND professional settings, and yet, we continue to communicate electronically even when more personal contact is a possibility.

            I think people have developed into a more self-conscious breed. We are constantly afraid of what everyone around us is thinking, and in the moment is just too absurd a thought to muster. God forbid someone actually SEE us when we’re not looking like super-models or HEAR us stutter and stumble over our words.

            Always, I prefer human contact when communicating, a face-to-face interaction. I have found myself in more than one instance where emails are misinterpreted between my best friend and myself. We’ve known each other for 15 years, and still, there are times when our intended messages are lost in reading.

            I’ve also developed my own little theory about online dating…you can’t REALLY know the person until you meet them in real life. Anyone can be perfect on paper, and even on Skype…but it takes true human chemistry to be able to stay with someone and know whether or not the two are compatible. You just don’t know what’s really going on, especially in terms of sarcasm or double-meaning concepts.

            Martin agrees with me in saying “With so much to do at work, it’s not always easy to find time for personal discussion. However, in the long term, face-to-face communication just might assure that communication is clear and understood.”

Source:

Martin, Chuck. “The Importance of Face-to-Face Communication at Work.” March 6, 2007. March 22, 2012. <http://www.cio.com/article/29898/The_Importance_of_Face_to_Face_

            Communication_at_Work>

Are emails emotionless?

In the fast paced 21^st century, etiquette is absolutely not old-fashioned.  Regardless of how the message is sent, it is always necessary to be polite at all times.  I disagreed with Lisa Jardine’s podcast “Email Etiquette” because she makes the argument that letters are better because they show more emotion.  First of all, like it or not, letter writing it “out” and e-mail is “in.”  According to a CNET news article, a 17 year old was sending out a college application and forgot how to address an envelope.  She’s not stupid, it’s just not important enough for everyone to remember anymore!  That’s the reason (unfortunately) that the Postal Service is going out of business! 

Email Etiquette

             Email is the one of the main segways in which we use to communicate with whoever we desire. It is an easy, quick, and simple way to reach out to someone or to send a message to numerous people. It is extremely relevant in our world today, and that is why we need to know the proper ways to utilize it and how it works.

Business Writing

            Before taking my Business Writing course with Dr. Hannah Bellwoar, I never knew the answer to a simple question; why is it critical that proper writing be used?  There are many reasons to this answer; some so simple I ask myself how I didn’t know the answer prior to finding out.  We all have ways of communicating but what brings us together in understanding is a common language that we speak between each other.  If we are able to effectively communicate there is a lesser chance of something going wrong or getting lost in translation.  This is why I don’t believe the etiquette behind communication is out dated.

            Look at the incident at Three Mile Island.  The cause for the incident was a lack of proper communication between the engineers and other workers.  If people don’t understand or misunderstand what you are trying to say it can cause things to turn bad.  We learned in Dr. Bellwoar’s class that reason like Three Mile Island and the explosion of the space shuttle are real life examples of how important communication is.  If we cant effectively communicate amongst a wide group of people how are we supposed to get our ideas understood, especially in the business world?  In a professional setting being able to understand emails and other forms of communication is imperative to carry out tasks.  Even if you are texting amongst co-workers you must have a certain lingo within your business and between each other so the wrong impressions don’t occur.

            Just as it is in the business atmosphere, everyday communication requires etiquette as well.  While it may not be the prim and proper etiquette most thinks of, it is effective nonetheless.  When speaking amongst friends or strangers we understand certain things we can and cannot say in order to steer away from hurting ones feelings or having them become outraged.  Although it may not be grammatically correct all of the times, the way we communicate is only effective if others understand what we’re saying the way we want them to contemplate it.

Source: Business Writing Class, Dr. Hannah Bellwoar

Email Carefully

Communication really has come a long way. It began with cave writings, slowly evolved, and then came telegrams. These could take almost weeks to be delivered. After this, we developed a mailing system, which still took it's time to get to it's recipient. Now, we have instant communication. It can take less than a second for your message to be sent and received. This is where our culture faces a problem. 

The return of the pen and pad?

            I remember being a young child and getting a card every holiday from my one aunt. I remember running to my mailbox and thinking to myself “I can’t wait until I see what ive gotten from my aunt!” Every time I would get a card I would end up getting a hand written note and a golden dollar. This is a memory that I will never forget. Unlike a text this hand written letter came with a nice surprise.

            Compared to this texting and email can seem impersonal and curt. People take much less time in sending an email or text. One of these reasons is because people know that when writing a letter with ink and a pen if you mess up the message you must start from the beginning so you chose your words carefully. Also it would be impractical to send a letter though the mail which costs money that is only a few short words like you do when people text each other.

            Today the world has chosen to almost abandon the centuries old method of writing by hand letters and has adopted email and texting. This form of communication may be more environmentally friendly but it is not always personally friendly. I know many people including myself who decide that it is sometimes stupid to use proper grammar and use etiquette when texting or sending an email. What most of the western society in which we live in doesn’t realize is that people do appreciate the kind etiquette of letters. I feel that this is slipping away from society because we have become so ingrained with trying to get messages to and from each other as fast as possible that we stop thinking about how to be nice and just think about getting the email done. If we bring back the basic etiquette of hand written letters we will end up having much better personal communication between each other. Like Lisa Jardine said people can use electronic communication as a vial of concealment. By doing this they are much more likely to have harsh comments than if they would have written a letter or called in person.

                                                                         Bibliography

Jardine, Lisa, auth. "Email Etiquette." A point of view. BBC RAdio 4 Program, Feb 3 2012. web. 21 Mar 2012.

Letters Mean More

I remember as a child I always ran to the mailbox to see if there was any mail for me after the mailman came by our house. I was always disappointed when there were only bills and other letters for my parents, but I loved seeing a card with a family member’s handwriting on the envelope (especially when it was around my birthday because that meant birthday money). I still get excited when I receive cards in the mail from back home.

Email vs. Letters

We now live in a world in which communication is fast-paced and it is expected to have quick responses. This is made easier with emails, which have seem to have taken over our lives. I know that this is the case of many people, myself included. If I am not in class, I will check my email at least every hour. When I am waiting for a quick response from another individual, I will continue to check it a couple of times an hour until I receive the responding email. It is definitely less common today to send and receive letters, since they require more time to write and actually mail to the individual. I very rarely hear of people sending letters to others. Anne Applebaum from the Washington Post supports the change to a fast-pace environment that we see in today’s world: “One of the people who wrote letters to me 20 years ago is now so busy that he can't be expected to take a phone call, let alone write a letter. When I communicate with the rest of my old pen pals, I do so by e-mail, usually a few sentences at a time.” But there is definitely a difference between writing an email and writing a letter that relates to etiquette. Etiquette should be expected in everyday interactions, and sometimes this is not the case with the quick-pace world that we live in today.

Vicious Texting versus Thought out Letter Writing

The need for faster responses in technology is always wanted in society.  A man wants a response about an acceptance for a date faster; A business woman wants a response from her boss about a meeting time faster; A mother wants to know where her child is after school faster.  But sometimes efficiency is confusing and taken incorrectly because words said through technology are not always fully thought out.

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