Jan 11, 1999
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CYBERCHATTER Back to Basics Some dos and don'ts that actually help. By Arun Katiyar While I'm convinced that e-mail is the single biggest and most useful application of the Internet, it's not what you might call an e-blast. Ask me: as part of my job I deal with over 150 e-mails a day. There's plenty of flotsam, jetsam and good old junk being swapped, zapped and whizzed in Cyberia. And some of it can cause damage beyond control. So here are three golden rules which you will soon appreciate if you don't already do. Rule 1: I've said this before and I'll say it again, don't forward e-mail which says, "Don't open e-mail which has 'travel bargain' as its subject line. This e-mail carries a virus which can damage the data on your hard drive. Please forward this e-mail to as many of your friends as you can." There are plenty of such e-mail making the rounds and your act of forwarding it is itself a virus. E-mails cannot carry a virus, attachments can. So before opening an attachment, you might want to verify if it comes to you from a trusted source. Rule 2: If you are mass mailing a message -- for example, a New Year greeting or a nifty new mathematical formula which is going to save the world -- don't place your entire address book in the 'To' or 'Cc' fields. Doing this exposes your mailing list to the recipient. This may not always be desirable because it leaves unsuspecting recipients vulnerable to unsolicited mail. Many e-mail users don't know that the 'Bcc' (Blind carbon copy) field can easily help you get around this problem. Try using it -- your address book will remain confidential. Rule 3: This should actually be Rule 1. Be brief. Try writing short messages. However, this doesn't mean your language should turn into some retarded idea of communication. This rule is specially meant 4 U if U R so pushed for time that U can't write normally. Go easy, use English grammar and spellings. It does make the Net a more civilised and cosy place to live in. All I can say to people who think using alpha-numeric substitutes on the pretext that it's convenient or cool is that it's never 2 L8 2 change. I must take this opportunity to thank those who send me e-mail in response to Cyberchatter. Many of the ideas, queries and suggestions have helped me gain better insight into the way the Net works. If I haven't replied to your mail so far, I will, shortly. That's Rule 4, if you are still with me: Always reply to e-mail when the sender expects you to. Arun Katiyar is executive
editor of India Today Group Online. |
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