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Discussion on: Unexpected problems while using email

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DIPA_DHUNGANA

Electronic mail (Email) is a method of exchanging messages between people through electronic devices. People opt for email because it is delivered extremely fast. Email can be sent and received at any hour of the day from any corner of the world if there is internet connection. It also allows communicating with multiple parties at once. So a great deal of communication and workflow is centered on email these days but whether it is the long-term solution for communication and workflow processes is still a big question (Sassenrath, 2001).

As the user of electronic mail, we all face some unexpected problems that include:

1. Loss of personal contact: Email is used in place of face-to-face contact and people mistake email exchange for relationship building. People may forget that there are people involved in the transaction as text speaks more than the person in email (Bryant, n.d.). People are hidden behind technology in email. For example: I write emails to multiple people every day as a part of my job but none of them know me personally neither do I.

2. Emotions are not conveyed: Body language and facial expressions cannot be conveyed through email. The voice element is also missing. What the person on other side is feeling cannot be predicted through the content of the email. An employee who is feeling depressed and sad may have to write a cheerful and happy email. Thus email fails to communicate mood and feelings at times.

3. Misunderstanding: It is not sure that receiver will get message as intended by sender. The pronouns, popular jargon, abbreviations and short descriptions used in email can be misunderstood and interpreted in wrong way. Words cannot always describe what we want to express and the same words may have different meanings to different people.

4. Insecurity: Viruses can spread through email attachments though most email providers scan viruses on behalf of the users. In addition, anyone who has access to the email account can send and view email so there is no guarantee that the one we expected is on the other side.

5. No guarantee of delivery: The email is not accessible without internet connection. So we cannot guarantee that sent email is received by the destined person on desired time. There is no assurance of real time delivery.

References

Bryant, B. J. (n.d.). Chron . Retrieved from The Disadvantages of Email in Business

Sassenrath, C. (2001, February 10). The Problem with E-mail . Retrieved from Rebol Technology.