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Email lists

When writing to a mailing list, there are several things that you should remember. Email lacks all the body language that normally is interpreted in face-to-face communication This can lead to people misinterpreting each other and can lead to disagreements that become personal and inflammatory. For this reason, if you think that your post might upset someone, then you are best off not sending it.

If you think that someone has said something that is inflammatory or inappropriate and feel the need to respond, then point this out politely and ask for some common agreement on what is acceptable within the mailing list. Remember that people often feel they have a reputation to defend and can go to great lengths to defend their opinion or values.

If things become really heated, then it is better that people take the disagreement off-list and email each other privately. Also remember that everything you send to the list will be archived for others to read at a later time, and you may find that you have gained a reputation that is difficult to shake-off.

Take care when replying to an individually privately. Occasionally, people send an email to a whole list, which was only intended for one recipient. Needless to say, this can cause a lot of embarrassment and is something that cannot be undone. Once mail is sent, it is sent to everyone on the list.