E-mail Etiquette With the Oatmeal
These days, it seems everyone thinks they can have a web comic. I’m sure that’s probably why I don’t often read them, at least, not the ones that lack art in favor of snark. I’m not sure why, but I suppose on some fundamental level, I just object to the idea of reading witty blocks of text that could have been blogged, or otherwise printed instead of uploaded as a JPEG. And then, to call it a comic on top of that just adds insult to injury — it’s not a comic, it’s lazy. Occasionally though, these “comics” hit the nail on the head. One such was The Oatmeal‘s recent rant about the various e-mails we deal with on a day to day basis.
Now, Some of you might even be a bit guilty of these, but let’s be honest, who hasn’t had to deal with one of these examples at some point. In my experience as a freelance writer, I’ve come across several instances on a near daily basis, and while it goes with the territory, it always causes me a headache or two. I’ve had to print and sign documents, then fax them — I know, fax? Seriously, it’s 2010, people. Half the people I know have signatures that are often longer than the body of their e-mails, and I know I’m not the only one who has friends or family who insist on cc’ing everyone they know on every e-mail they send out. If any of that sounds familiar, you’ll want to read the rest of it by clicking here.
Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.