What is Digg?50 Comments
- 000jr000, on 10/12/2007, -2/+191 Inappropriate subject line
2 Content that is too long or just rambles on
3 Attaching huge files
4 Unnecessary reply
5 No signature file
6 Poor use of language
7 Failure to respond promptly or not at all
meh... - Scott2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I disagree - Top posting brings the most prevalent and current info to the top, so I don't have to bother scrolling.
What's really irritating is when people break up a quote with new questions or comments. - misterpony, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9What happened to reporting "Bad Link"? Cause I need to use it here...
- PlayWithFire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I am surprised it didn't mention e-mails with unnecessary images. I don't need to see you company logo in a signature every time you send me an e-mail.
Also, just because you discovered a cool pink background, with flowers around the border, doesn't mean you have to use it. And for some reason, e-mails like that are always written in the worst possible font. - poipoipoi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7lol no signature file is BAD? jeez, i regard sigs as the syphillis of email.
- coldfusion1970, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I HATE inappropriate subject lines.
And i also hate when friends are too lazy to make new email, so they find an old email from me and then use that for a new message. - armbar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Failure to respond promptly is one of them? That's totally stupid; I almost always have something more important to do than reply to someone's email. Email is, by nature, a system that allows for pause between communication. If something is truly urgent, use the phone, or IM if available.
- dggeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I love how the "Poor use of language" section has a grammar mistake (putting a question mark at the end of a statement).
- Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I just f'ing hate those stupid Forwarded chain letters... How dumb must people be?
- pdrap, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7How disappointing. Here's my list, which is much better.
1) Bottom Post
2) Get your attributions straight.
3) Quote properly (with the '>' characters)
4) Not HTML
5) You .sig should be no wider than 72 chars, and no longer than 4 lines.
6) Trim your e-mails. Don't quote 5 pages of a list digest and add one line.
7) Respect the thread. If you're starting a new thread, make a new e-mail instead of replying to an existing e-mail.
There ya go. - delhokie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4#3- I don't know of ANYONE who likes seeing the '>' on quoted text.
And HTML is fine, as long as you don't use Comic Sans for your font :) - Rosewood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4First, don't worry about being a content leecher. You still generate advertisement $$ if you login or if you don't login.
- gharding, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I'm a top-poster. I'm just sending e-mails back and forth to a few people and everyone top posts. That way, the latest message is on the top and nobody has to scroll through 10 pages of >>>>>>>>> crap to see the latest piece. If it's a mailing list where not everyone was there in the beginning of the message, then bottom-post. But most people remember what's going on in an e-mail or are capable of reading the reply below yours and remembering what it was about.
- xenolon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I think the comment about Subject Lines is out-dated/irrelevant. I prefer to NEVER change subject lines of an established correspondence. This allows the conversation to stay threaded (grouped by thread). Some clients are better at handling changes to the subject line than others, but some will break the thread even if you just add information to the end of the subject line. It always annoys me when a client replies to a 15-20 message long thread with a new subject line, and I don't realize they're talking about an ongoing conversation.
- xenolon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I second that. I deal with a lot of designers and art-types, all of whom think they have to personalize their email template. If only I could get away with using plain-text only email.
- Ranferi, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7*****, the site is under heavy pressure of the Digg Effect.
- flex411, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I was hoping they would address CAPS and bold letters with exclamations, and pretty much just being annoying. I wanted to forward this article to a few peole around the office.
I feel like walking up to one of them and YELLING RIGHT IN THERE FACE! But I wiould yell something like "YOU GOING OUT FOR LUNCH TOADY!!??" - spacebar14, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Or this one:
http://www.tetsou.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=41 - bentendo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I haven't thought of it that way. However, in my office environment, I find that people come and ask me about "that email I just sent you" before it has ever even hit my inbox!
That has to be one of the most frustrating things EV4R :P - 000jr000, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Coral Cache's working for me: http://www.tetsou.co.uk.nyud.net:8080/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=41
- chesterjosiah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Just get Gmail and your emails will be in conversation view, the way email should have been from the beginning.
- jav1231, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I'm sure one is likely top posting. Newslists hate this but I'm not sure it falls into email in general. I had a guy say topposting was "dangerous." I blasted the idiot. Argue inconsiderate, hard to follow, what have you but when you argue "dangerous" you're seriously divoid of logic.
- masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I can't use nyud links because of WebSense's faulty "Proxy Avoidance" filter. Care to post all ten? No need for descriptions, just what they are would be fine. :-/
- logic7, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I missed some important points in the article:
- use BCC: if you send mass mails with "funny" content (office humor. yuck.)
- do not send NSFW stuff to office email addresses
- do not attach a word document if the content doesn't need formatting
- do not use HTML or "Rich Text"
- learn to quote properly
...and probably a lot more - justinvt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have to disagree with #2 - Content that is too long. Whenever I email someone, knowing that we are going to be communicating back and forth a lot, I try to include as much info as possible in each email, so we don't end up with 1000 emails from each other (I mean for business related stuff). The most annoying thing is when you spend 30 min writing an e-mail to explain something, and the person writes back something like "Thnks." Half of the time, when you talk to them on the phone, or in person, you discover that they didn't read any of it. I am sorry, but sometimes, you need to communicate more than 3 sentences at a time.
- spudlyo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not using a signature file is a deadly sin? Whatever. I personally am annoyed when people quote the whole damn email rather than just the bits they are responding to.
- Tetsou, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Unfortunately, the popularity of this article buried my server! Apologies to those folks who couldn't reach it, but I'll have to move the article to a static html page and hopefully that will solve the problem. I think I've experienced the digg effect! There have been some great suggestions which I'll incorporate into an updated article. Thanks to all sinners!
- brickballs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1 1. Inappropriate subject line
2. Content that is too long or just rambles on
3. Attaching huge files
4. Unnecessary reply
5. No signature file
6. Poor use of language
7. Failure to respond promptly or not at all
mothing thats not a bit obvious.. - drchadwick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Top-posting is the default behavior for every e-mail client I've ever used, so at the top is where most people look for the newest information. On a newsgroup I totally agree with you, but in normal correspondence, I think top-posting has become the default standard for most work/personal correspondence.
- ninetynine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2sending joke emails without putiing the addrs in bcc!!! then of course everyone reply's to all...
- Angostura, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think you explain very eloquently what the problem is... you write a long e-mail and people don't read it. You're going to end up explaining it to them on the phone anyway, so why not simply tell them that you need to talk to them about some stuff on the phone, and outline the main issues.
- hiscity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There are plenty of cultural differences regarding "not responding."
For most of us, it's likely that a non-response is a polite non-confrontational way of expressing disinterest or disagreement. A non-response should not be taken as an insult, as if being ignored. There's no need to react emotionally.
I formed my email habits using the military message system while in the service. The idea was to minimize unnecessary correspondence and use a telegraphic style. For "group consensus" cultures like the Japanese, delays in response may simply reflect the time it takes to get other opinions. For heavily family-oriented cultures, non-responsiveness may be taken as an insult and "small talk" is used like social glue.
It's worthwhile to consider the recipient's culture and that a non-response often sends a negative message in the absence of something more definite. It's not a sin to not respond. - Zedoriah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ Top-Posting Haters
Okay, I completely agree that message boards, usenet, etc should be bottom posting. Email, however, I think is completely different.
You end up with multiple conversations and making sure people know exactly what you're replying to helps.
In email it's usually a single thread, and having the newest content on top is just faster. If your emails get so complicated that you get confused by it, you should probably be on a news server anyway. - linuxrebel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2My idea would be.
1. Sending HTML e-mail (you are destroying my disk quota)
2. top posting. In all left to right and right to left written languages the flow of ideas are top to bottom. By top posting you are breaking the idea continuity.
3. Using extreme signatures. I've seen signatures that are up to and including one printed page in length.
4. Acronyms. If you want to use this carp in your office OK but don't take it into the real world.
5. Vacation mail replies.
6. Cute fonts. (See #1) I don't want to have to hunt for font's just to read your mail. Stick with the classics.
7. Using E-mail as a file server. - justinvt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah - I just know that with something like web design, you usually have to explain lots of moderately complicated technical information to people who know absolutely nothing about technology, so I would rather give them detailed explanations of exactly what I'm doing, with appropriate hyperlinking, etc. You also want a record of the client's issues and complaints, so you can make a checklist of what needs to be done. This is the case for many different professionals. Some people absolutely eschew typing and computers, though.
- pauldonnelly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Especially #6! I think top posting is partly a symptom of quoting entire messages and threads. If you trim your quotes down to only incude necessary context, then bottom posting is clearly the best choice.
- Tetsou, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Site holding up fine! Thanks
- pauldonnelly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Why not just refrain from quoting the whole damn thing? Presumably if your correspondants can remember the context, they only need a few lines to jog their memory.
- TDot1980, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Quote with the '>' characters? Now there's something that pisses me off, especially if you get quotes of quotes of quotes, etc it can start to look really messy. Just indent. Or use HTML which, when used properly, makes everything look better and quotes can be italicized or a different colour, etc.
- xbasilx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+31 paragrahs in the subject line
2 sending "joke" emails
3 receving an article using "email this story to..." link
4 re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re:
5 your life history, philosophy & political affiliation in signature file
6 expecting me to comply to your pedantic snobbery
7 expecting me to reply to your mindless drivel
8 HTML instead of plain text
9 using email instead of telephone for urgent matters
10 expecting me to allow receipt confirmation
11 electronic greeting cards
12 people who don't know what kill-filtered means - bentendo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I have to say that I'm commonly guilty of number 7 on the list. It stems from the fact that once I've gotten what I needed from the message, I simply don't care to reply or am too lazy to do so. In fact, I am one of the content leechers that digg got knocked for recently (hence I am now registered and trying to contribute). Anyone else find they have a problem keeping connected in this new age of "always on" communication?
- Tetsou, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0No problem with the link now. Thanks!
- ronhunsinger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I disagree that there's a difference between email and usenet. In both cases, you will be engaged in several simultaneous conversations. In both cases, bottom posting makes it easier to understand what's being said, because it puts things in logical order. In both cases, proper quoting (and attribution) is key: quote only enough to jog the other party's memory about which (of probably many) of their conversations this one is, and let them know what you're responding to.
I think that people who top-post feel that they need to do that BECAUSE they're over-quoting. They quote the entire incoming message, commiting sins 2 and 4, and then top-post in a vain attempt to compensate.
There is no need to quote the whole thing: the entire history of the thread is still there in their in-box for them to peruse if they need to. If you keep your quote brief, as you ought to, then your bottom-posted reply will still be right there near enough to the top to be easily read with no scrolling needed. If they need to scroll to get to your reply, you've quoted too much.
Bottom-posting keeps ideas in their logical order, making your messages easier to understand and maximizing their effectiveness. You do want your emails to be effective, don't you? - Arcann, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0The #1 sin should be any REPLY ALL to over 3 people.
- pdrap, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2The link is down, but top posting HAS to be in there. Stop top posting. It makes you look like a newbie.
- Scourge, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Send them back with something nasty attached :p
- uslacker, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0yikes - the site has been 'Digg Drugged'
\ - Sartori, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Those are all deadly sins? Remind me never to email you! :P
Seriously though, apart from bottom posting I completely agree with you. Top posting just always makes more sense to me as I tend to read things in chronological order. Such is life, I suppose! - mecole21, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1digg effect is in full force
- crashflow, on 10/12/2007, -32/+5Yes! First frontpage!...WOOT!!!......ok, bury me now.
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