Email effectivness

Email can be an effective form of communication. It offers the sender and reciever a digital copy, with time stamp, that can be acessed from any computer. However when not used properly emails can be the bane of ones exsistence. In the article "The secret cause of Flame wars" Nancy Flynn says "Emails are very easy to misinterpret". Emails are a written form of verbal communication. When speaking in person the reciever gets messages from the words, body language, tone of voice, eye contact, and attitude. However when reading an email the only message a reciever will get is what is written on the page, and that can lead to misinterpretation as well as un-intended consequences. For emails to be fully effective messages have to be short, to the point and re-read to assure proper tone, and context was used. Always assume that the other person will only skim read at best and try to write it short and to the point. Also make sure and ideas that you think are humorous are easily understandable and not likely to be interpreted into anything offensive. If you use emails properly great things can happen but rules must be followed.