陳豪(C)在美國ABC公司工作,他經常要用電子郵件和公司內外的人聯系。今天他見到了一個他不認識的英文詞,所以就去請教美籍華人Mary(M).
(Office ambience)
C: Hey, Mary,我知道etiquette這個詞的意思是禮節,禮貌。可是,什么是netiquette?
M: Netiquette是人們新創造的一個詞。意思是網上禮節,也就是good behavior on the Internet.
C: 網上還有禮節! Why don't you give me an example.
M: 比如說,你最好不要全用大寫來寫email. If you type in all capital letters, people would think you are shouting your message.
C: 噢,怪不得那天銷售部的Robert問我:Why did you yell at me? 可有的人給我email全用小寫,那是什么意思呀?Whisper?說悄悄話呀?
M: No. 那天財務部的Kevin不是給我們倆寫的email都用小寫嗎?全用小寫一般是不正式的,like chatting with your friends.
C: Email本身就是不正式的。
M: That's true, but that does not mean you can ignore appropriate etiquette.
C: 我想知道還有哪些網上禮節。
M: 首先,在你送出e-mail 之前,check if there are mistakes such as spelling, grammar, punctuation and word choice. If your e-mail is sloppy, you will be perceived as sloppy and disrespectful to the recipients.
C: 我有兩次發e-mail給客戶時忘了附件,幾個客戶馬上回e-mail問我:What attachment?
M: 是呀,一旦e-mail發出去以后,你就沒法收回了。發現錯誤后最好的辦法就是糾正錯誤,再重新發一次。你應該在subject line里寫:corrected version with attachment included.
C:下回我一定這樣做。
M: 最好是不要出這樣的差錯。Before you hit the send button, check your spelling, grammar, punctuation and word choice. Sloppiness gives people a bad impression and is disrespectful to others. When mistakes are found, correct them and resend the e-mail. Typing in all capital letters seems that you are shouting, or typing in all lower keys are like chatting with your friends.