[ale] net etiquette question for ALE message board

[planas]

Ron

On Fri, 2011-10-14 at 16:50 -0400, Ron Frazier wrote: 

> Hi Guys,
> 
> I'm sort of back to the computer after my incident with the wild lounge 
> chair.  If you don't know what that's about, see my "This computer is 
> killing me" thread.  After 3 chiropractic visits and several stretching 
> exercises, I feel almost human again.
> 
> Actually, I have to get off the email and start doing some other tasks.
> 
> I have a few messages queued up that I need to reply to, like my last 
> few posts, but I may be a little while getting to them.
> 
> I want to say, for the past, present, and future, that I always 
> appreciate any replies you send to my messages.
> 
> That brings up a minor etiquette question.  Say I post message A and 
> someone replies with message B.  Let's say that grammatically and 
> syntactically, message B doesn't really need another reply from me.  
> Suppose it's mostly informational.  Is it expected that I reply to it, 
> and every message, anyway just to say thanks and acknowledge the info?  
> I guess it's easier for me to know when to start conversations than to 
> end them, if that makes any sense.
> 
> As I said, I always appreciate all replies.  Just figured I'd see what 
> you all think.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Ron
> 

I think it depends on context such as the subject of the emails, your
relationship with the other person, and how informal you can be with the
person. Sometimes you might need to acknowledge to the other receipt of
an email, thus a short reply is needed, receipt of an purchase order.
Sometimes you must more formal with the person, an very important client
perhaps and thus a short thank you is needed to show good manners and
respect. Then when neither is true, you can be informal and a reply is
not needed, then you do can do nothing, often emails from a close friend
would be in this group.

I think the problem is most people forget emails are substitutes for
either postcards, letters, or memos. Your response and type of response
to a letter depends on the nature of the letter/memo, relationship with
the writer, and whether it is personal or professional/business. The
appropriate manners for responses should be dictated by these factors.

-- 
Jay Lozier
jslozier at gmail.com
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