The "e" in email stands for "electronic". It is a form of writing that has flourished since the public introduction of the Internet in the 1990's. Email is currently one of the most popular ways to communicate.
Email is also a communication system whose format rules depend on the purpose for which one is writing. Generally, it's better to err on the side of formality. This means proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar should be used, and slang should be left out.
As a rule of thumb, one should use a business letter format when writing an email, without including the heading or inside address.
One drawback of email is that it can be very difficult to interpret the writer's tone, especially in informal emails. This can lead to serious misunderstandings between the writer and the reader.
When sending an email, it is always a good idea to provide a SHORT but SPECIFIC title for the "Subject" line so your reader knows what your email is about.
A proper email will look something like this:
When sending an email, your email program probably offers several options:
The "TO" line send the email to whomever you select to be recipients.
The "CC" line sends the email to additional people. CC stands for "Carbon Copy"; this was the process used to send a copy of a paper letter back in the day. This is often useful if you want to prove to a third party that you sent an email to someone. For example, a teacher might send an email to a student, and CC the student's parents so they will know what the teacher wrote to the student. Generally, the people in the CC line are not intended as the main recipients; however, the main recipient can see that the email was sent to these other people as well.
You might also have a "BCC" option your email. This stands for "Blind Carbon Copy" - it allows you to CC people on an email without the main recipient knowing that other people are also seeing the email. This can be useful in some business situations; if a customer is telling employee A one story and telling employee B a different story in order to try to trick the company, employees A and B might BCC each other on emails to the customer so both A and B will know exactly what was said to the customer without letting the customer know they are aware that the customer is trying to "game the system".
It is also important to be aware of the difference between "Reply" and "Reply All".
Imagine that you receive an important and formal email from Bill that Bill has sent to lots of people in addition to you.
"Reply" will create a response email to be sent only to Bill.
"Reply All" will create a response email to be sent to everyone Bill originally emailed.
If you and Bill are friends, and you write back a silly or sarcastic email, Bill might appreciate it, but the other people on the list might not; in fact, you could end up getting in trouble because of what you said.
While "Reply All" can be useful if you need to send information to the entire original group, always think carefully about what you write when using the "Reply All" button.