Netiquette and email attachmnets - some guidelines
Uses of attachments greatly enhance the flexibility capabilities and even potential hazards of email. Due to the significant differences and compatibilities of different mail programs, many items such as tables, charts, documents with advanced formatting and items which require or demand editing integrity attachments are critical to communication dynamics. Nonetheless, many obstacles and potential for problems exist when utilizing attachments. What follows are examples where attachments can manifest poor results and loss of productivity or worse.
In
the earliest days of email a limited number of formats existed. However the rapid proliferation of programs
has produced hundreds, if not thousands, of formats. These are identified by their file
extensions, i.e., .txt, .pdf and so on.
Although many programs can read multiple formats, these are no universal
file readers. It follows that to read
these attachments, the native program must be installed.
Care
must be given by the sender to insure that an attachment, particularly an
important or critical one, is conveniently able to be opened by the
recipient(s). This is, of course,
critical in business communication and less so in personal email. Nonetheless, it may take a significant amount
of time to open an attachment which might have been intended to be provided for
quick review or action. Often, once a
new program is installed, it may take the user sometime to negotiate or operate
the program. If this fails, the
attachment may never be opened.For many, attachment size is not a problem. For many others, it is a consideration which may have even a greater negative effect than a file attribute or format. Many Internet service providers (ISP's) have limitation for file size or mailbox size. Large files can be rejected altogether or they may exhaust allotment of mailbox capacity. Thusly, a recipient may not even know a message was sent and rejected. Large attachments, even when accepted, might fill the recipient mailbox which will result in disruption of their service. Finally, small laptops or most smart phones could have performance issues when attachments are opened. There are several ways to avoid the pitfalls of attachment size. The first is to be selective when sending large files or multiple smaller ones. In the former case, many files can be significantly reduced by file compression programs of which there are many. At least one of the popular ones is resident on most desktops or laptops. If other formats for document size reduction are appropriate such as .PDF, this is a very good approach. In the case of the later multiple attachment email, simply sending multiple messages with fewer attachments per email is practical, straight forward and sure to reduce or eliminate the stress of unwieldy attachments.
Potential
hazards of attachments
Most
attachments are simply a means of document delivery. However, it has also become commonplace for
some to use attachments to launch cyber attacks typically with executable code
which produce many varied effects, some highly destructive and malicious. When a recipient receives a suspicious
attachment, it should be scanned and, unless it is from a trusted source, not
opened. Some corporations, hosting
companies and ISPs (Internet service providers) will block, quarantine or
remove files with specifically identified file extensions. It is beneficial to realize at least some of
these to prevent inadvertent file removal.
Care should be taken as well not to forward such messages without a
security scan.
1.
Do
not send attachments that are not needed.
2.
Do
not return attachments when replying.
The original sender knows what they attached.
Finally,
when attachments are sent, some may have similar names to other files on the
sender's system. With an inadvertent
slip, the wrong attachment may go out perhaps a compromising or confidential
document. Therefore, opening attachments
to validate they are appropriate and correct is critical to a proper email
process.
Titles
of attachments are often visible in a mailbox preview mode. These titles can be very important for a
number of reasons. Primarily an accurate
and appropriately named attachment will encourage the recipient to open the
email and read the attachment. If an attachment is not appropriately named,
opening it may be delayed, denied or dropped altogether. Some important considerations to utilize in
titling attachments are date, specific content (i.e., proposal, invoice,
resume, author and others). Avoid using
titles which are very long, contain all numeric characters, do not represent
the content or have inappropriate information.
The latter might contain dates, long since past or very generic names as
"letter", "schedule" and so forth. Maintaining a structured process such as
consecutive numbering, key defining categories, are not only useful for the
recipient but for the sender as well. It
is also important to adhere to Netiquette in attachment titles by utilizing
correct punctuation, capitalization and spelling.
Meta
data and drafts in attachments
Certain
programs can actively send all of the corrections already visible. Some programs leave hidden information which
can be retrieved. Care should be given
to prevent this as it may lead to lawsuits, security breaches or other negative
situations. Attention should be given to
"clean" these files or utilize an attachment format which will erase
the meta data. Even better converting
attachments to a .pdf or other unchangeable file format eliminates this danger.
"Do's" for attachments
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"Don'ts" for attachments
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·
Be consistent with names or
descriptions
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·
Have too few or too many
characters
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Verify an attachment need
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·
Do not send "v"
card attachments unless requested
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·
Capitalize the title
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Reply to someone with the
attachment they sent you
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·
"Zip" or compress
large files
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Send attachments with
possible compromising meta data
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·
Use universal formats
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·
Clean Meta data
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·
Title possessions for
convenience in storage
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In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, " Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:
www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki
If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo. I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ and PSG of Mercer County, NJ.
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posted by paul babicki @ 8:28 PM
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