E-mail - what's in a name?

Estimates of the number of people currently connected to the Internet vary, from 60
million to 100 million and upwards. If we accept the conservative figure of 60 million,
and surmise that each person sends and receives ONE email message every day, that
means there are 120 million email messages whirling about every single day.

How many email messages were waiting for you when you logged on today? I'll hazard
a guess and suggest that it would have been somewhat more than one!

A report from the Jupiter organisation estimates that commercial e-mail spending will
grow from $164 million in 1999 to $7.3 billion in 2005 - this represents an estimated
forty-fold increase in e-mail volume.

It's also estimated that the average number of commercial e-mail messages that US
online consumers receive per year will increase from 40 in 1999 to over 1,600 in 2005;
non-marketing and personal correspondence will more than double from approximately
1,750 in 1999 to almost 4,000 in 2005.

So it's no exaggeration to say that one of the fastest growing methods of
communication is email. In fact, we're in the middle of a communications revolution
and it's ironic that we're once again relying on one of the earliest forms of mass
communication - the written word.

Language is a dynamic, living thing and in the past, has been able to keep pace with
changes; so, when electricity was invented (or discovered - depending on your view of
the world), it was given a name which comes from elektron the Greek word for "amber"
and electrum, the Latin word for "amber" - the alloy of gold and silver. In the mid 1600s
it was known that rubbing amber or glass would produce a magnetic effect that
attracted light weight materials, threads, dust etc and this was the only known use for
electricity for many years - until that fellow with the kite came along!

The first big break-through in rapid mass communication, the telegraph, takes its name
from two Greek words: tele meaning "far off" and graphein "to write, draw or represent
by lines".

Television is a mix of the Greek tele and Latin visus, past participle of the verb "to
see".

Computers were given a name which is derived from the Latin computatio - a
reckoning, because in the early days, that's all they did.

But, as with many phenomena which have burst onto the scene in the last decade, the
World Wide Web has outstripped our store of words. We've grabbed at a stop-gap
solution and come up with the prefix "E" to describe anything to do with the Internet,
so there's e-commerce, e-books and e-mail.

Since e-mail is here to stay, now is the time to come up with some sensible terms to
describe it - let's start sending each other e-notes - that's a quick and efficient term to
describe a quick and efficient method of communication!

Just because we're using a system that is fast, doesn't mean that we have to become
lazy in our use of language. Because it's so easy to send an e-note to one person or a
thousand people, the temptation is to treat e-mail more as if it's a note on the fridge
door, than as a legitimate, serious form of communication.

You scribble a note to stick on the fridge door to tell your kids to feed the dog before
they go to music lessons:

Feed Spot be4 u go xxxx Mum

Your daughter leaves a note that she's gone next door to do her homework:

At Kath's - hist test 2morrow - ugh! Seeya

We know what these messages mean, but they're hardly the sort of thing you want
anyone outside the family to see and yet, every day thousands - millions - of
messages just like this are flying through cyberspace! Messages that use symbols,
numbers and abbreviations to convey complex ideas and thoughts.

Need info on midi sites pronto. Pls send all URLs 2 me.

IMHO best site on web is here.com Wish I had their hits LOL

Me too ;)

Not everyone is familiar with the use of abbreviations, symbols and 'emoticons' and it's
very easy to miss subtleties of meaning. E-mail IS a legitimate form of communication
these days - and there are a number of conventions that have emerged to govern its
use. Read about how to avoid costly and embarrassing mistakes in your e-mail.

The Internet has made it possible for us to communicate with people from all over the
world - and the only way those people can form an opinion about us, is by looking at
the way we write. If you feel that you could do with a refresher course in writing, or just
a few tips to improve your expression, then visit http://www.write101.com and spend
some time reading the free articles on site.

About the Author

Jennifer Stewart began offering professional
writing services and now has clients from around the globe. Any writing needs can be
met, including web pages, press releases, advertising material, business reports,
content for autoresponders, technical booklets and articles for newsletters.
Visit http://www.write101.com for more details or subscribe to
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