E-mail Senders Essay

Submitted By jewel082
Words: 971
Pages: 4
Open Document
Topic

Back to Watchlist The perfect tool to help you manage and track your investments.
Feeling 'flamed?' Don't shoot the e-mail messenger
VIRGINIA GALT
WORKPLACE REPORTER
Published Friday, Sep. 29, 2006 7:33AM EDT
Last updated Monday, Apr. 06, 2009 11:43PM EDT
0 comments * Email * * * Print * Decrease text size Increase text size

Subject: flaming (the sending of insults via e-mail).
Most e-mail users feel they have been "flamed" at work on occasion and, in the heat of the moment, have fired back.
Often, however, the perceived insult is unintended. What the sender means to be a brief and efficient message is received as brusque and demanding, especially when the recipient is already feeling time-pressed and overloaded, according to Toronto researcher Carolyn Meyer, a communications professor at Toronto's Ryerson University.
Such miscommunication can cause unnecessary tension in the workplace -- which could be reduced if everyone thought more before hitting the send button, says Prof. Meyer, who recently presented her observations at an academic forum in Florida.
It does not help, either, that conversational niceties, such as please and thank you, are sometimes dropped from workplace e-mails in the interests of brevity, she says.
And if the recipient does not particularly like the sender, the very appearance of his or her name in the memo field can leave the recipient feeling "flamed" -- no matter how innocuous the message."The perception of a message as a flame may be influenced by past on-line interactions, and the nature of the sender and receiver's off-line relationship," she writes in her paper, Fanning the Flames: the Influence of Time Pressures and E-mail Overload on the Perception and Instigation of Flaming.
The very nature of e-mail as a communication tool is at the root of most unintentional flaming, she says, because there are none of the vocal or visual clues that can modify how the message is received in face-to-face conversation.
"While computer-mediated communication can seem like face-to-face communication in its informality and rapidity, the brevity of e-mail, the urgency with which it is read and written, and the lack of paralinguistic clues that help to regulate spoken communication can stifle rapport and make messages ambiguous, providing conditions conducive to the uninhibited expression of hostility or to the interpretation of hostility that can spark a flame," she writes.
Compounding the problem is the fact that e-mails can be saved, reread and brooded over. "Words that go unnoticed in face-to-face conversations may precipitate a strong emotional reaction when they appear on-line, with negative words and content becoming particular focal points for rumination and stimuli for retaliation."
And once the recipient retaliates with a sharply worded missive, the dispute can easily escalate into "what is called a flame war."
In the interests of workplace peace, Prof. Meyers recommends that e-mail senders keep the needs of recipients in mind, and curb the number of e-mails they unleash on co-workers -- "a high frequency of postings will require quicker and more sustained processing by group members."
Many of today's workers are now showing symptoms of "information anxiety," she writes. "This stress may be intensified through information overload that takes the form of glutted in-boxes . . .
"With limited time for e-mail triage, users may resort to prejudging messages or making inferences based on previous correspondence and interaction with the sender.
"Responses may reflect an imperfect ability to comprehend a message or adequately recall it's main points," she writes.
"While the distinction between a deliberate flame and an unintentional one is clear enough in theory, the differences may be less salient to busy e-mail readers who may not have established enough rapport
Show More

Related Documents: E-mail Senders Essay

Spam: E-mail Spam and Sender Id Method Essay

Do you ever get tired of getting e-mails from people you do not know? Do you wish that you could just put a stop to all these junk e-mails and only receive e-mails from known sources and subjects you care for? Spam is like getting letters from all these credit card companies such as Capitol One, Discover every single day in the mail. The scrap fills up your mailbox and you get tired of tearing these letters day by day. The same takes place with spam e-mails, you get tired of cleaning your mailbox…

Words 1569 - Pages 7

Essay about Wireless Network

let’s start with the definition of Electronic mail which is the exchange of computer stored messages by telecommunication. E-mail messages are usually encoded in ASCII text, however you can also send non-text files, such as graphic images and sound files as attachments sent in binary stream. The E-mail was one of the first uses of the internet and is still the most popular use. Pretty much a large percentage of the total traffic over the internet is e-mail. This can also be exchanged between online…

Words 476 - Pages 2

Evaluation Of Communication At Work

measure a successful communication is crucial to our success as managers. Jewell (1993) says that in order for a communication to be considered successful it must first be received and second, be decoded by the receiver in the manner intended by the sender. ! Within my workplace, xxxx College, we use many different types of communication and I consider most to be successful. However, it is important to always to be evaluating our processes and to identify where improvements can be made. ! I will…

Words 1679 - Pages 7

E Tailing Essay

Behaviors of E-tailing Communication 470 Michael Zarvos September, 5, 2012 By: Aisha Syed E-commerce or Electronic Commerce has become a part of our everyday lives. The growth of World Wide Web is growing, more and more each day. Businesses practically live on the web. E-commerce…

Words 1583 - Pages 7

Apple: Sales and Apple Stores Essay

a product in order to influence an opinion or extract a response. Our customer will reside our product from our retailer who will advertise our product on television, radio, newspapers, and magazines, by internet, which are examples of websites, e-mail blogs, and interactive video technology located in department stores and supermarkets. Our product will be demonstrated to public relations which help us to sell more and faster. Public relation helps an organization communicate with its customers…

Words 520 - Pages 3

The Corliss Group Latest Tech Review

hack-proof, but you can make yourself less vulnerable. It all starts with some common-sense security steps. Three ways you probably can improve your existing practices: Develop better e-mail habits, beef up password security and (as always) remember that your behavior is the root of most of your problems. Get your e-mail act together Every day, your inbox fills with all manner of junk. Some of it is merely time-wasting nonsense, but let’s not forget about the really dangerous stuff: phishing schemes…

Words 1140 - Pages 5

Ob Effective Communication Essay

certain level of information process capacity which is the amount of information they can process in a fixed unit of time. When the information a receiver received is more that his process capacity can hold, he may misinterpret the message from the sender. For example in the case study, William found that John found George unpleasant because George always wrote long and complex memos to shop floor employees. John could not understand the memo…

Words 2339 - Pages 10

By Keyboard Or Ink: Handwritten Letters Vs. E-Mail

Keyboard or Ink: Handwritten Letters versus E-mail Historically, handwritten letters were the only reliable form of communication between two people in different places. It did not take long for the handwritten letter to be rendered obsolete by the convenience of the e-mail. For years, the e-mail has dominated as the principal medium for sending letters. With the introduction of the Internet, handwritten letters became impractical to some. However, with e-mail as the primary form of letter communication…

Words 604 - Pages 3

Research Paper On Postal Rule

Introduction …………………………………………………………….. 1 2. The Postal rule …………………………………………………………. 2 1. Background ……………………………………………………. 2 2. Exceptions to the Postal…………………………………...… 2 2. Which Rule Should Apply to E-mail Transactions: E-mails – Instantaneous or Not ………………...… 3 3. Possible Solutions ……………………………………………………. 7 4. Conclusion ………………………………………………..……………. 8 Introduction The issue of when there is a meeting of minds through offer and acceptance…

Words 2789 - Pages 12

business to business Essay

project that is part of the receiving company’s project and another form of business –to- business letters would be communication between two coworkers in different departments. This is done by e-mail, mail or fax. Communication with a coworker in different department would best be done by memo thorough e-mail. The below business- to- business message consist of a clothing company (ABC) communication with a distribution company (XYZ). The clothing company is sending the terms of the relationship…

Words 508 - Pages 3