As an  Undergraduate Advisor I work closely with many students and add to this the students enrolled in my classes, graduate students, work study students, colleagues and friends and family. Like most academics I am swimming in email. The vast majority of the email is important–important to the sender and at times the recipient. From casual hallway conversations and over coffee, though, I hear a common lament: netiquette issues.

Today’s Fri Fun Facts is about Netiquette.

1. Treat emails with the same integrity that you wold treat an office hour visit or phone call. Use a salutation like Dear Prof/Dr/Mr/Ms, etc. This will vary for colleagues, friends, and family, but students should be in the habit of treating the email more formally.

2. Just because you have a smart phone it doesn’t mean that the email must be sent right now from your phone! If you have to get it out, email yourself and then review the email later on your other device. So many harried, incomplete emails are often sent via the phone, and your email query is important.

3. If the email is about a mark, be prepared for your professor to say: come see me in office hours. Important conversations requires a face to face meeting.

4. Never send an email when you’re mad. Never do it. Send it to yourself and sleep on it. Once you send an email it’s out there–it’s not necessarily private.

5. If you are sending your boss or your professor emails via your smart phone–note the spell checker function and avoid abbreviations. Treat the message like a regular email conversation.