A couple more posts on e-mail here before I move on to another subject.

When you send an e-mail, do not put whole lines of text in all capital letters. This is considered the electronic equivalent of yelling, and it is generally considered rude in tech-savvy circles. When I look at a message from someone who has typed this way, I generally find myself predisposed to thinking that the writer is uncouth. At best.

In face-to-face contacts, if you want to emphasize something, you use rhetorical and verbal devices like repetition, carefully chosen words, and intonation. You don’t simply walk into a meeting and start yelling at the top of your lungs just because something is important.

In e-mail, it’s the same story. SO DO NOT DO THIS! YOUR YOUNG EMPLOYEES WILL THINK YOU ARE BEING RUDE.  Sorry. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to be ironic. But I am deadly serious about not capitalizing like that.