Three Simple Questions
There are three simple questions that one should always ask one self when writing emails. Especially when writing mails to (public) mailing lists. Most importantly:
Would I say this to a person face to face?
And when writing to public mailing lists or a group of people:
Would I say this to a stranger?
Would I say this in public?
If the answer is no to any one of the questions, then don’t write that mail, or at the very least change it so that you can answer yes on all questions above.
These points does (obviously) not apply to blog comments. You are supposed to be loathful and derogatory in those. Feel free to fill the comments with obnoxious ranting 
Tags: communication, culture, email
June 6th, 2008 at 6:59 am
bollocks to that… I’m quite happy to insult people in public as long as its funny, I can’t believe you’re bringing this up, its so like 1993.
Fuck man surely you could blog about something more interesting and important than that, why the fuck do you see fit to waste my time with this utter bullshit.
/sarcasm
June 6th, 2008 at 7:20 am
@Karl: Sure 1993. That must be total Star Trek future for you?
/backatya
June 6th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Another good question to ask is: If my wife/girlfriend/parents would read the mailing list, would I say/write this?
June 6th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
@Michael: Indeed. Lucky for me my wife only reads this blog, and not the mailing lists I participate in
June 7th, 2008 at 1:32 am
It’s all out there available on google and will be there forever. That’s why I have always tried to as professional as possible when writing to a mailing list. Frequently that was not the case when writing e-mails at my former work.
You’re right blog comments are another thing entirely.
It’s hard to resist the temptation to let out a stinker under the cover of anonymity.