E-mail software is like all software in that occasionally things go wrong. If this happens, you may end up receiving e-mail meant for another person or your e-mail may get sent to the wrong person. Either way, what you thought was private is not private anymore. Somewhere in the world there is a person (usually a hacker) who is able to read your e-mail if he/she tries hard enough. Of course "Tries hard enough" is the key. It's not that simple to read another person's e-mail (usually) . (Usually) there are security measures in place to prevent this from happening, but no security is one hundred percent hacker-proof. I have "usually" in parenthesis in the prior two sentences because I'm making the assumption that the person/persons who install and operate your e-mail system have taken the necessary precautions. Of course, the same must also be true for the person/persons on the receiving end of your e-mail.

Avoid typing messages in all caps — Typing a message in all capital letters makes you LOOK LIKE YOU'RE SHOUTING. If shouting is your intention, then by all means go ahead. But, using all caps when not necessary makes your message hard to read and may alienate your reader.

Don't Be A Novelist — Messages should be concise and to the point. Think of it as a telephone conversation, except you are typing instead of speaking. Nobody has ever won a Pulitzer Prize for a telephone conversation nor will they win one for an e-mail message. It's also important to remember that some people receive hundreds of e-mail messages a day (yes, there are such people), so the last thing they want to see is a message from someone who thinks he/she is the next Dickens.

Too Much Punctuation!!! — Don't get caught up in grammar and punctuation, especially excessive punctuation. You'll see lots of e-mail messages where people put a dozen exclamation points at the end of a sentence for added emphasis. Big deal. Exclamation points (called "bangs" in computer circles) are just another form of ending a sentence. If something is important it should be reflected in your text, not in your punctuation.

The Spamming Law — Under United States law, it is unlawful "to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send an unsolicited advertisement" to any "equipment which has the capacity (A) to transcribe text or images (or both) from an electronic signal received over a regular telephone line onto paper." The law allows individuals to sue the sender of such illegal "junk mail" for $500 per copy. Most states will permit such actions to be filed in Small Claims Court. This activity is termed "spamming" on the Internet

Never give your userID or password to another person. — System administrators that need to access your account for maintenance or to correct problems will have full privileges to your account.

When quoting another person, edit out whatever isn't directly applicable to your reply. — Don't let your mailing or Usenet software automatically quote the entire body of messages you are replying to when it's not necessary. Take the time to edit any quotations down to the minimum necessary to provide context for your reply. Nobody likes reading a long message in quotes for the third or fourth time, only to be followed by a one line response: "Yeah, me too."

Your signature footer should include your name, position, affiliation and Internet address should not exceed 4 lines. Optional information could include your address and phone number.

*Asterisks* surrounding a word can be used to make a stronger point.

Never send chain letters through the Internet. — Sending them can cause the loss of your Internet Access.

Follow chain of command procedures for corresponding with superiors. — For example, don't send a complaint via Email directly to the "top" just because you can.

Be professional and careful what you say about others. — Email is easily forwarded.

Cite all quotes, references and sources and respect copyright and license agreements.

Use Smilies Sparingly — Part of the nature of a good one-on-one conversation is the use of visual cues. How important are facial expressions and body gestures to a conversation? A simple eye movement can mean the difference between "yes" and "YES". What about auditory cues? The results are the same.

Since there are no visual or auditory cues with e-mail, users have come up with something called "Smilies". They are simple strings of characters that are interspersed in the e-mail text to convey the writer's emotions (cues). The most common example is :-). Turn your head to the left and you should see a happy face (the colon are the eyes, the dash is the nose and the parentheses is the mouth). Here are some more examples.

:-)	Smiley face
;-)	Wink (light sarcasm)
:-|	Indifference
:->	Devilish grin (heavy sarcasm)
8-)	Eye-glasses
:-D	Shock or surprise
:-/	Perplexed
:-(	Frown (anger or displeasure)
:-P	Wry smile
;-}	Leer
:-Q	Smoker
:-e	Disappointment
:-@	Scream
:-O	Yell
:-*	Drunk
:-{}	Wears lipstick
:-	Male
>-	Female

They are typically found at the end of sentences and will usually refer back to the prior statement.

Use white space in long messages — Since most Email programs do not support formatting features, it is imperative that you generously use white space in your messages -- Keep paragraphs short and use headings often.

Use descriptive subject lines — Many people get bombarded with 10-50 messages a day, and they use the subject lines of messages to prioritize their reading and weed out unwanted messages. To make sure your message is noticed, use a descriptive, but brief subject line.