When I started working full time in the mid-80s we had Vax mail. This was sent via a dumb terminal (as they called them) connected to a modem, connected to a mainframe computer the size of multiple refrigerators.
These emails were very much like letters, perhaps even with the introductory “Dear” if you were addressing a muckamuck, and ending with something like:
Sincerely,
Leaffan
After we migrated to the PC desktop platform and (originally) Lotus Notes things were pretty much the same.
When Outlook took hold it was similar, but people just stamped the email with a prefabed signature.
Even as long ago as 3 or 4 years people were still including an opening name like:
We were using PROFS back in the late 80’s on the IBM mainframe before moving to Elm and then Pine on the Unix systems. I still have that email from back then and it still appears to be about the same.
I think “email dialect” has changed a lot, and continues to. Some things I’ve noticed:
increasing brevity. The volume of email has increased, and we all feel increasingly pressed for time.
dropping word-processor-style formatting. Work emails that include things like bullet point formatting, underlining/italicizing, or (shudder) colored text used to be a lot more common.
increased use of emoticons and even text-dialect abbreviations like “IMHO.” Ties in with brevity.
I think trends 1 and 3 are definitely steps towards “informality,” but trend 2 can be a mixed bag: arguable, not coloring text pink or blue, or using fancy fonts, is a step away from informality!
I teach college-level computer classes. Our first meeting is about email etiquette. I ask students to include a meaningful subject line, start with a greeting, keep the email short with limited formatting, and end with a closing AND their full name. When I asked them why the opening and closing, they’ll bring up it’s about treating others with respect. I ask them to send me a practice email (I have some students who have NEVER touched a computer) and will deduct points if the email doesn’t have good etiquette. I’m trying to do my best with the next generation.
I’ve noticed that long emails are no longer tolerated, and I don’t write them myself (anymore!) People have gotten turned off by the walls of text. One of the web sites I send my students to say if it’s a long email, pick up the damn phone, or write a Word document as an attachment, which I agree with.
I have noticed this too. Work e-mails have become more conversational with slang and incomplete sentences. I try to personally resist this by continuing to use Salutations and signatures but even I slip up sometimes.
Note I mean when I am communicating with people from other companies or clients. People I work with and see every day I am more casual but even then I stay professional (e.g. no potty mouth).
They are less formal here, as well. That I can handle, though I wish they were a bit more professional.
It’s the emails that are so poorly written that you’re not even sure what the sender wants that are annoying. Ones from people you have never worked with, that just send stuff for you to do without any explanation. Or ask for a professional opinion/solution to some problem that you’ve never heard about and the email provides no history or context. That have typos in the important stuff, like part or spec numbers, and you have no idea what they are talking about.
My emails are usually much less formal. So much so that sometimes we just send each other group texts. “Update time sheets, I have to approve them at 10! TY.”
I am more formal if I email, say, one of the Chief ____ Officers or a senior VP, including “Hi, ________” and signing off with “Regards, Grumpy” with my actual official employee signature and stuff. But once we’ve worked together a bit, even that drops off.
The last Chief Medical Officer and I sent one-line emails to each other and I called him by his first name. Both of these would have been unthinkable twenty years ago, even after working closely on a major project for eighteen months.
If I’m doing a detailed analysis for General Counsel, then my emails are full of cites, rationales, etc. To be honest, I do usually summarize my end decision, and I’ve been known to preface it with “TL;DR.” Sometimes the GC just wants to know what I decided, not why, and so he appreciates that. Also taught him a new piece of slang, and he tends to get a kick out of that.
With other co-workers who are more or less where I am on the org chart, or below, I’m much less formal. Part of it is due to my position and comfort (when I first entered the working world, I wouldn’t dare send some of the things I do now, and the same goes for when I first started this job).
I actually compiled a list of 20+ happy hours within walking distance of our office, the hours they were active, all the specials (daily, weekly, etc.) and links to the venues’ websites. I then sent it (from my work e-mail) to a bunch of co-workers, periodically updating it, or sending it to new hires.
Well, I guess it was popular, and co-workers sent it to friends and it spread, because a month or so after, a friend (knowing where I work) sent it to me, thinking I might find it useful.
I guess I am an outlier then. My work emails have become more formal over the last couple of years. The reason is that we have reduced the volume of emails. Now a lot of our internal communications are done on messenger apps. They have gotten so good that you can send relatively large files across and people perfer that. Even communications with clients, at least the more informal ones are done on these Apps. Emails are used for more lengthy and formal things.
I have requested that frequent emailers omit the salutation and just get to the damn point as quickly as possible. “Dear Ruken” just takes up space in the preview pane. And please stop telling me you hope my weekend went well, etc.
