ediquette notess

What are some guides for continuing email conversations?
Once you have exchanged emails with a person on a given subject, it is probably OK to leave greetings out of your follow-up emails. Here are some other points to consider about continuing conversations over email:

•Try to respond within a reasonable time frame, though "reasonable" will depend on the recipient's expectations and the subject being discussed
•Trim back the old messages: most email clients will keep copying older messages to the bottom of an email. Delete older messages so as to keep your message size from getting too large, and to keep your messages looking clean.
•If someone asks a lot of questions, it may be OK to embed your answers into the sender's message copied at the bottom of your email. However, if you're going to do this, be sure to say so at the top, and leave generous space, for example:
> How long are you staying?
Less than two weeks.
>Will you have time to visit with us?
I'm really hoping to, but my schedule will be pretty tight. Let me get back to you about that after the weekend.


What sorts of information shouldn't be sent via email?
Most people do not realize that email is not as private as it may seem. Without additional setup, email is not encrypted; meaning that your email is "open" and could possibly be read by an unintended person as it is transmitted to your reader. With that in mind, never send the following information over email:

•Usernames and passwords
•Credit card or other account information
Additionally, avoid sensitive or information that could be potentially damaging to someone's career and/or reputation, including your own. Beyond email's general lack of security and confidentiality, your recipient can always accidentally hit the Forward button, leave her email account open on a computer, or print and forget that she's printed a copy of your email.