stop...think...do you really want to say that in an email?

i love email. it's a wonderful invention. some would even classify me as a bit of an email junkie. the first thing i do after rolling out of bed is check my email and it's the last thing i do before i go to bed.

but right now i'm a little pissed off...this is a bit of a rant about users of email.

people before you hit that little unassuming send button, stop...think about what you've written...is there anything in your email that could be misconstrued? would you speak to someone in the manner you've written your email? and is that really what you want to say?
does anyone stop and think about the fact that an email is a paper trail...do you really want to have a paper trail with that in it? email is not private, if you work for an organisation it's monitored; if you're using a web-based email it's still monitored...less closely but monitored in some way, shape or form. so why then do we continue to treat email in such a casual, off hand manner?

increasingly i'm finding that people are writing stuff in emails that they'd never ever dream of saying to someone in person because quite frankly, it'd be rude and in some cases, unprofessional. and what i'm also realising is that there are a lot of passive aggressive people out there...they tend to be the ones that are guilty of doing this.

just because the person isn't standing in front of you doesn't give you the license to speak in whichever manner you choose to...pretend it's a face to face conversation and treat the person the same way you'd treat them if they were standing in front of you. and if you can't say something to someone in person then don't say it in email either.

stop...think...do you really want to say that in an email?