There seems to be an increasing trend of replying to a personal email or forum based email and not include the message being responded to. I find this rather annoying to say the least, not to mention time wasting.
Email is still not 100% proof as we all know and if I’m interested in seeing what someone is responding to, but they haven’t included a portion of the originating email, it means time is wasted trying to find the original email or be forever in the dark if the original email wasn’t received. And I hate being in the dark!
Yesterday I was trying to follow the thread of a conversation on a forum but had to keep going back to previous emails to try and figure who was responding to who and about what. Very disjointed.
And today I received an email from someone I don’t know thanking me for my offer of help regarding their website. And yet they did not identify themselves and did not have the original email included. I did a search of my sent files for their email address and they aren’t listed there – at least not over this past month. So what were they replying to and what did I say to them in the first place? And how long ago? I’ve had to ask them.
If you’re new to email or new to participating in email based forums, it makes good sense to include the part of the original email you are responding to, to keep a trail of the conversation that has been begun. And if you’re emailing someone direct from a forum, copy and paste the bit you are responding to so it keeps them in the picture. Makes for much smoother lines of communication.
Sue Gross says
This is one of my pet peeves too Kathie. It is so frustrating to have to search around to find out what an email or forum post is about.
I must say that when I come across this on a forum I usually don’t bother trying to follow the thread if I get lost because of missing replies. I’ll only give it a go if I’m very keen to read the whole thread.
Kathie Thomas says
Thanks Susan. Trouble is if you want to join in the conversation you need to check what was said first – so you’re not repeating things.
Lyn Prowse-Bishop says
I definitely agree that it’s annoying when a reply has come directly to YOU and doesn’t include your original email.
I think just a of the original FORUM message is appropriate. If you read the forums online, you are scrolling and scrolling and scrolling to try and find the original message if replies include the original messages. Just a snip – that’s all that’s needed. Google Groups in particular lays out responses brilliantly well for those who read it online – but I agree for anyone using email clients it makes it more tricky.
But then it’s almost impossible to get people to have a different signature block for their forum emails too! Inclusion of graphics in emails sent to any forum on Google Groups makes it very frustrating and annoying for anyone reading the group online as the images are either broken, or placed one under the other – making the scrolling thing necessary again!
Kathie Thomas says
If you’re talking a forum message that is delivered by email Lyn, then it needs to include a snippet of the original or previous message – whatever part is continuing the discussion. If it’s entirely a board forum that isn’t delivered by email then that’s a different matter and I agree.
Trimming is important for the obvious reasons but I feel that people just can’t be bothered so take the easy way out.
Signature blocks are a totally different thing and the number of lines should be restricted on discussion groups. At least in my way of thinking. Some are way too long.
Angela Spisak says
Thank you so much for writing this post. It drives me crazy when I get emails like this. Happy that I’m not going crazy alone.
Heather Villa says
Excellent reminder. Email and comments are a form of communication and you wouldn’t call someone on the phone and just start talking without identifying yourself and and the reason for your call.
Catherine says
A great article! Both hands FOR it.
Somehow such letters tend to come when you completely have no time or wish to investigate the original subject matter.
Rebecca Leaman says
You’ve hit on a topic that’s one of my “pet peeves” too! Maybe it used to make sense not to include the text of a message being replied to, back when everyone was on dial-up and every tiny bit of information transfer counted, but when I think of the amount of time lost to searching back through email trying to find the reference? Gah! And this just gets more important every day, I think, with an ever-increasing load of information flooding into our Inboxes.
Markox says
Hi Kathie,
In this particular message, the paragraph beginning, “Email is still…” appears to have some grammatical difficulty. Perhaps you meant, “foolproof”? If you would like I am an excellent editor and would be happy to be hired as such. Have a super great day!
Email and Forum Etiquette
Posted on October 20th, 2009 by Kathie Thomas
There seems to be an increasing trend of replying to a personal email or forum based email and not include the message being responded to. I find this rather annoying to say the least, not to mention time wasting.
Email is still not 100% proof as we all know and if I’m interested in seeing what someone is responding to, but they haven’t included a portion of the originating email, it means time is wasted trying to find the original email or be forever in the dark if the original email wasn’t received. And I hate being in the dark!
Kathie Thomas says
Seems you’ve taken on the role of proofreading my blog. Thank you. But I did mean what I put and perhaps in your neck of the woods you feel it’s better to put foolproof.
I am conscious that often terminology and the use of words, let alone the spelling, can have very different meanings in different pockets of the world.
Cheers!