Some of you might remember that back in November 2021 I ranted about this exact same topic, with similar ideas, but things seem to have taken a turn for the worse over the past three years. Let’s talk about email courtesy in this day and age of texting shall we? Somehow, the world domination of instant messaging has given rise to an entire generation that has summarily ditched courtesy altogether. I am pretty sure that many of my contemporaries will still remember English classes where letter writing lessons were mandatory, and we were crucified if the proper title and salutation was not used, not to mention a properly structured closing.
While working in customer service I was a bit taken aback by the disparity in the language used for the different countries. It was OK to address the customer by their first name for some countries, whereas for the German-speaking ones (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), the guideline was to stick to the formal last name. I am aware that to a large extent this is a cultural thing, and linguistics do play a major role in it, but there is something very irritating about the implied dual tone of informal anonymity. The pandemic years did away with handshakes, which I can accept, but did we have to implement the verbal fist bumps as well?
Anyone reading this who has been working in corporate for then past 25 years will attest to the fact that the advent of emails were a game-changer in business communication. It was a license to jump onboard the informality bandwagon, and a few years later, even the emails took on a horrible tone of instant messaging, with no structure whatsoever. It’s as if there is a universal green light to address all and sundry with the water fountain tone. We might as well all be working from a park bench or standing around a street corner, going by the tone of some of these emails and newsletters coming in. Let me be brutally frank: it all began with the blasted Blackberry, when you were suddenly accessible 24/7 and were expected to call up (and answer) the damn corporate communications at ungodly hours ASAP. The small screens and tiny keys on the Blackberrys certainly paved the way for the instant messaging tones in replying to emails. Then came the smart phones, and all hell broke loose.
If there is one thing that really makes my blood boil these days is receiving an email, newsletter or marketing campaign material that begins with Hey, not even your name! Even worse are the social media messages that begins with Hey and you don’t have a clue who they are. Someone sent me a message on LinkedIn the other day, a complete stranger and not even part of my network, and they had the gall to begin the message with Hey, followed by two lengthy paragraphs of something that I did not bother to read. They lost me at Hey. Irrevocably so. A couple of days later I received an email with the same opening and I deleted it immediately. It was sent to my business address and it annoyed me even more. If you don’t have the decency to write an email properly from the start then I certainly won’t afford you the same courtesy.
I am not saying we have to be formal stiff suits all the time, but is it too much to ask for a proper opening such as Dear XYZ, or Dear Mr / Mrs. XYZ. I would even settle for Good Day / Morning / Evening XYZ, but to simply address me as Hey makes me see red. Sadly enough, since many businesses have taken to social media to reach out to their customers or subscribers, the use of informal language has blurred the lines. It’s OK to address your customer by their first name on Facebook or Instagram, X, or even customer support chat lines, but then have to revert back to a formal tone for letters? It then begs the question, who sends letters nowadays anyway? Is formality now restricted to banks, courtrooms and boardrooms?
Related entry:
FrogDiva Thoughts 