Comments on: Should you be sacked for sending SHOUTY email?

By: Chantel Bernardini

Chantel Bernardini — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:23:22 +0000

Yea, why didn’t they just ask to change her writing style? Seeems a bit extreme.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:48:17 +0000

Why didn’t her bosses just ask her to stop?

By: Anthony

Anthony — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:29:09 +0000

Would it be okay to write in lowercase but in font size 40

By: ColtonCat

ColtonCat — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 05:01:07 +0000

That is totally pathetic, particularly given the type of e-mail that was submitted as evidence – an instructional, that when correctly followed would actually benefit the recipient?

@Nick P and @Alan, totally agree on the flashy backgrounds, funky fonts and smileys, worst invention ever was allowing HTML and RTF in e-mail.

By: milliganp

milliganp — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:16:24 +0000

The problem is that email is primarily an informal communications medium and the accepted etiquette is that capitals equate to shouting. However do we ban the use of smileys (if a man winks at a female colleague is it going to count as inappropriate behaviour).
Although a company email policy would be useful, there would need to be very clear definitions of what is inappropriate and these would have to be seen to be reasonable -which is the difficult area.

Before the advent of ubiquitous email we had the dreaded internal memo, of which I know I sent a few vile examples. However almost any communications medium is going to run into difficulty with our modern obsession with political correctness.

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:42:17 +0000

WHAT A PATHETIC COMPANY. YES CAPS CAN BE IRRITATING BUT YOU HAVE TO BE MIGHTILY PATHETIC TO INSIST THAT SOMEONE LOSES THEIR LIVELIHOOD BECAUSE OF IT.

By: Anteaus

Anteaus — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:16:02 +0000

In the LEGAL profession it is STANDARD PRACTICE to use capitals to highlight important words.

Plus, this attitude strikes me as being very similar to the emerging paradigm in which managers penalise swearing of any kind, but themselves indulge in snideness, obnoxiousness, innuendos and other far worse kinds of verbal misdemeanour. Case of plank versus splinter, if you ask me.

By: Christine

Christine — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:56:17 +0000

I suspect that the email shouting thing was possibly a very thin excuse in this situation…

By: william

william — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:05:24 +0000

control freak, new world order style formalities. what happened to people with backbone and resolve? most people dislike pretentious business language, which sounds like you just swallowed a thesaurus.

By: CraigieD

CraigieD — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:36:27 +0000

The people who complain about CAPS in e-mails are the same people who complain they don’t have enough time to do their work – while complaining about CAPS in e-mails to ten different colleagues. We emphasise when we want to make a point verbally and we “hear” the words when we read. What’s the problem. And before anyone mentions – I’m on my LUNCH HOUR!