In our opinion, viruses, worms, etc., are a piece of cake compared to e-mail.
Email is the most dangerous software on your computer, by far.
It’s too easy to reply, too easy to be blunt, and crucially you miss that face-to-face contact.
You are using a tricky communication medium. Your role involves building relationships, not breaking them. Email can do more damage to a relationship than you realize – if you’re careless.
The more you rely on this technology, the more care you must take.
Our research shows that if you know someone well, you can get away with a certain amount of sloppiness in email. Your audience will make allowances. Bluntness, poor spelling, even bad grammar tend to be overlooked. Up to a point!
But if you don’t know that person well, we don’t make those allowances so readily.
Also, be aware of this reality: the tonal quality of email is difficult (if not impossible) to manage perfectly, and your tone is often misunderstood by the receiver.
To improve writing tone, consciously smile when you write – that friendly tone will come through in your writing.
A smile goes a long way when you write. Always.