Stop Internet Pollution

As we blaze into the new millennium, technology continues it’s
rapid pace yet most people and businesses are not realizing the
consequence of e-mail Even as we increase our level of
electronic communication, so goes the multitudes of new e-mail
and internet users flooding the bandwidth Along with all this
new hyper growth comes new internet-based abuses and challenges
that affect all of us personally and professionally
These days everyone receives too many e-mails Unnecessary
messages are annoying The information contained in this article
suggests ways to become a solution to the pollution, decrease
spam and allow routine users to have higher levels of electronic
savvy You’ll also find out through our Top Ten Starts and Top
Ten Stops how to take the necessary steps to protect e-mail
addresses from potential abuses
TOP TEN STARTS: 1Deleting most e-mails when you do not
recognize the sender 2Compressing information down to concise
points 3Identifying who you are in the subject field
4Addressing distribution e-mails to yourself 5Placing
addresses in Bcc field when sending distribution e-mails
6Being respectful of other’s e-mail privacy and time
7Cleaning up e-mails if your intent is to pass them along
8Educating yourself to increase your Internet savvy
9Forgiving others when they mess up 10Using spell check
before sending e-mails
TOP TEN STOPS: 1Placing your entire e-mail database or lists
into the To or Cc field 2Using sarcasm and humor in some
e-mails 3Opening e-mails with a “fwd” or “fw” in the subject
matter 4Using ALL CAPS or CAPS LOCK in your messages
5Writing anything you don’t want shared in public 6Changing
e-mails addresses every so often 7Sending unnecessary attached
files 8Sending messages using typical spam titles in the
subject field 9Passing along virus alerts 10Replying to spam
TOP TEN STARTS:
1START deleting most e-mails when not recognizing the sender
Due to the huge amount of spam, along with the on-going presence
of virus’s embedded into e-mail messages, the current trend
today is to automatically delete any messages that you are not
certain who the sender is Purge your “deleted items” folder
often
2START compressing information down to concise points Keep your
messages short, concise and to the point In other words, have a
point then get to it Most users do not enjoy reading lengthy
messages or novels on their screens and they have a tendency to
delete or ignore these type of messages See additional
information about information compression by clicking here or
clicking your browser to: http://wwwenspironcc/articleasp?ID=1
3START identifying who YOU are in the subject field Make sure
the recipient knows your e-mail address or is expecting your
e-mail If I am speaking to a client on the phone and following
up via e-mail, I’ll alert the client to my forthcoming message
or reference the phone call in the subject field
4START addressing distribution e-mails to yourself Each
receiving recipient sees only two e-mail addresses of which both
are yours It will be seen on the receiving end like this: To:
“Your e-mail address” Fr: “Your e-mail address” And
5START placing addresses in Bcc field when sending distribution
e-mails It is a discourtesy to give out someone’s e-mail
address When you send an e-mail message to multiple people and
use To or Cc to address the message, everyone sees each other’s
e-mail address
Creating A Bcc (Blind Carbon Copy) Field: To send a message
without the recipient’s name showing: In a message, click To In
the Type name or select from list box, type the name, or click
Find In the Name list, click the name, and then click Bcc
Click Send Or You can display the Bcc box in all new
messages that you compose If Word is your e-mail editor, in a
new message, click the arrow to the right of the Options button,
and then click Bcc If you are using the Outlook e-mail editor,
in a new message, on the View menu, click Bcc Field If the Bcc
field isn’t visible when you create a new message, you can add
it
6START being respectful of other’s e-mail privacy and time
Everyone is very busy and most place a high level of
significance on their time and privacy Be respectful by
applying the things learned in this article and by sharing this
valuable information with others 7START cleaning up e-mails if
your intent is to pass them along We’ve all seen it, the folks
who view an e-mail and want to pass it along so they
automatically click “forward” In the To field they click in
their entire e-mail database and hit send Instead, stop the
pollution by (a) click “forward” on the tool bar (b) remove all
the fwd’s, message headers and anyone’s e-mail address that may
appear (c) place your own e-mail address in the To field and (d)
place the e-mail addresses you want to send the message to in
the Bcc field
8START educating yourself to increase your Internet savvy
Educate yourself on the proper uses of the Internet and stop
with excuses such as “It’s too late to teach an old dog new
tricks” An easy way to educate yourself is to search out on the
various search engines for information about Internet Pollution
or e-mail etiquette Your company might consider “E-Mail
Essentials,” a significant half day training offered by the
author through The Enspiron Training Company
9START forgiving others when they mess up Almost daily, I
receive e-mail messages from acquaintances that violate most of
the information contained in this article Instead of spending
useless energy registering a complaint or ignoring it, I
politely make a specific request for them to change what it is
they are doing and why If you’re going to be part of the
pollution solution then provide suggestions on “what they should
do” 10START using spell check before sending e-mails Using
your built in spell checker is a sure way to avoid
embarrassments, especially when communicating professionally
Don’t compromise your messages, use spell check
TOP TEN STOPS:
1STOP placing your entire e-mail database or lists into the To
or Cc fields As previously stated, some people place all their
email addresses in the To or Cc field There are two
disadvantages to this: (a) the recipient knows you have sent the
same message to a large amount of people, and (b) you are
publicizing someone else’s email address without their
permission
2STOP using sarcasm and humor in some e-mails Without face to
face communications your joke or statement may be viewed with
disapproval or even worse – you may hurt someone’s feelings
Genuine intimacy with our fellow human beings is a rare
commodity these days – and many people who shy away from
intimacy hide behind the veil of humor If it doesn’t buy you
anything, then don’t say or write it
3STOP opening e-mails with a “fwd” or “fw” in the subject
matter These types of e-mails create a huge amount of pollution
The messages are typically laced with multiple forwarded
subjects not to mention including each person’s e-mail list that
decided to hit reply or forward to the original message
4STOP using ALL CAPS or CAPS LOCK in your messages USING ALL
CAPS MAKES IT LOOK LIKE YOU’RE YELLING! TRY READING THE WHOLE
SCREEN LIKE THIS – NOT EASY TO DO!
5STOP writing anything you don’t want shared in public Never
assume your email messages are private or that they can be read
by only the recipient Face the fact, sending e-mails is just
like having a “LIVE” microphone around a politician 6STOP
changing e-mails addresses every so often Much of our Internet
pollution is due to people changing e-mail addresses every so
often Many people have to change due to the high amount of spam
that they receive Others change because of the all new ISP that
just came out Yet, messaging everyone in the world about a new
address, again, pollutes the electronic traffic, not to mention
everyone needs to update their database
7STOP sending unnecessary attached files Sending some
attachments can annoy friends, family, and clients Many files
may even seize their e-mail system Compress attachments and
only send them when they are necessary and productive Or, load
you attachment onto a website and direct your recipients to view
the document using a URL link instead
8STOP sending messages with a typical spam title in the subject
matter A relative every once in awhile sends a message and in
the subject field it says “Hi” Great especially
considering “hi” is one of the most recognizable spam subject
titles Spammers use basic titles in their subject lines that
are designed to create curiosity with the recipient so they’ll
open or forward the message Amazingly enough, we use some of
the same titles in our legitimate e-mails Another way spammers
infiltrate is to misspell words in the subject line Watch out
for specific subject titles such as Urgent, Important, Sunday,
Your Message, Invoice, Send Card To, Your Account; or any
subject fields that are misspelled
9STOP passing along virus alerts E-mail users are still
forwarding virus alerts – thinking that by sending these they’ll
save some poor soul from a for-sure computer melt down The fact
is some virus alerts have embedded viruses in them If you
receive a virus alert, delete it without opening it or
forwarding it Check the main homepage of your virus protection
software often Keep an eye on your favorite television news
station or Internet news station like CNN or Fox News for your
official virus alerts
10STOP replying to spam Each time you reply to spam or hit
unsubscribe, you are confirming that your email address is
“live” Authenticating this will only create even more spam
Just hit the delete button or use email software to remove the
spam
The Internet and E-mail is everything they said it was going to
be People all around the world are using this medium to connect
and communicate with others The “Net” has certainly changed how
we live, work and play Even Senior Citizens are now jumping in
at a unprecedented rate of activity Before they can speak, our
children now have a mouse in their hand Major corporate
aircraft now have a mouse for the pilot and one for the co-pilot
located on the cockpit consoles
As the Net continues to evolve, so do we as users utilizing the
latest and greatest types of technology Because of this
wonderful phenomenon, we have no idea of what it will be like in
ten years or how we‘ll all be affected by this incredible
medium We have just barely scratched the “tip” of the iceberg
Yet, we have a duty to safeguard and defend the Internets unique
makeup
Become a solution to the pollution by implementing the ideas and
suggestions found in this article Start now on the road of
increasing your awareness and reducing the huge amount of
Internet pollution that we deal with on a daily basis
If you have questions about this article or would like to
schedule a training in regards to “E-Mail Essentials,”
leadership, customer service or sales matters, contact Chuck
directly or you may view all his speaking topics at:
http://wwwenspironcc opicsasp View other articles by Chuck at
http://enspironcc/articlesasp

Tags | addresses, communication, database, field, internet, matter, messages, millennium, multitudes, pollution, result, routine, sarcasm, technology, users