Electronic Mail (E-mail)

Webopedia (2012) defines ‘e-mail’ as, “Short for electronic mail, the transmission of messages over communications networks. The messages can be notes entered from the keyboard or electronic files stored on disk.” Personally, email is a tool that was I utilize often. Although I have personal email accounts, most of my emails are related to work purposes. There are so many benefits when using email. Regardless if you are communicating with an individual or group there is no word limit. There is also the capability of attaching documents, sound files, graphic images, and other non-text files. Like with any form of communication, email has both its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are its global, easy to use, fast, inexpensive, easy to prioritize and reference, and provides leverage. The disadvantages are can provide information overload, can lack personal touch, create misunderstandings and emotional responses, has the ability to be too long, creates spam, and as the ability to obtain a virus on your computer. Although e-mail is a great tool, in some cases it should not replace oral communication. Babcock states in his article ‘Weaknesses of Email Communication’ (2012) that “It’s easier to ignore an e-mail than it is spoken conversation. E-mail makes it very easy to “tune out” messages that you just don’t feel like dealing with at present. A fair portion of e-mail is completely ignored. If you really need to get a message across, and need to be sure that it is received, pay a visit or pick up the phone. E-mail “conversations” often require days of back-and-forth whereas only a few spoken minutes would probably achieve at least as good a result. If you want to make sure that your conversation is documented and associated with a time, send out a quick e-mail summary of the conversation.”

E-Mail. (2012). Webopedia.com. Retrieved December 3, 2012 from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/E/e_mail.html