Workplace etiquette is very important. Good manners and politeness is what allows people to create harmonious office environments which are crucial to the well-being of employees. Respectful greetings and small talk is the glue that turns an array of different people with wildly different backgrounds and work styles into a cohesive team.

Now that a lot of workplace communication happens online, the need for courteous exchanges also extends to emails and instant messages. Internet etiquette or netiquette is a set of common rules that you can’t veer off of because of how easily written words can be misinterpreted.

However, sometimes it’s very tempting to go off script and cuss out a boss who clearly doesn’t get your boundaries. Or simply leave out the emotionally taxing pleasantries and get to the point right off the bat. Why are we in such a desperate need to start each exchange with “I hope this email finds you well”?

If that’s how you feel, the collection of posts below will make you feel seen. The list consists of netiquette fatigue as well as accidents including wrong attachments, unfortunate typos, and email avoidance. Prepare to relate and dive in.

#1 Europeans Work To Live, And Americans Live To Work

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So why is netiquette so tricky? It’s partly because the online communication channels and approaches to them are always changing. For example, a few years back, adding a GIF to an instant message or an email was common and signified a sort of casualness of the conversation. These days, GIFs are considered to be outdated. Ryan Broderick, and internet culture writer told The Guardian that these days GIFs are “basically the cringe reaction image your millennial boss uses in Slack. Rather than what they used to be, which was a decentralised image type for communicating on blogs and message boards.”

The everchanging nature of internet communication rules became even more obvious during the lockdown, when the online exchanges were, arguably, at the all-time high. When Zoom entered the scene, many people were arguing what’s more appropriate: turning on your camera or keeping it off? And if you do turn it on, do you use a background, blur your surroundings, or reveal your interior design choices to your co-workers? Should you or should you not use a beauty filter? There was no consensus there, we had to make those decisions on our own.

#2 Better Later Than Never

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#3 Odd Ways To End An Email

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When making such decisions about what’s appropriate, we tend to follow vague concepts we have learned over the years. In a paper published in 2023, the researchers found that it’s either things we have learned through personal experience of online correspondence or by observing what other people consider appropriate. That is to say, that there are usually no hard rules about what is acceptable and what’s not.

We do have some written online communication rules, of course. Most of them are actually related to emails. A quick search online will inform you about most important do’s and don’ts one has to abide by. Do write informative subject lines, but don’t overshare in your Out of Office message. Do format your messages correctly, don’t use all caps or stylize your email with bold and italics too much. Don’t forward spam or chain emails. Don’t email people about urgent matters—call or message them instead. And, for the love of all that is holy, do not click “Reply all” when responding to company-wide announcements, we don’t need to know how you feel about them.

#4 Unhinged Email Sign-Offs Until My Boss Notices

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#5 I Wish I Had The Courage To Do That

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#6 Same

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Then there are, of course, unwritten rules that depend on your workplace and co-workers. What’s considered an email at one job can be a lengthy Teams message at another. One employer might be very liberal about emoji usage while another might consider them inappropriate and unprofessional. One employer might be adamant about keeping your camera on during meetings, while another is more lenient and allows people to keep it off at all times. What’s even more baffling, is that this can differ from person to person, all in the same company, making juggling these rules quite a feat for the employees. 

#7 HR At My Work Was Sending Emails To A Different Andrew In Australia For Over A Year. This Is His Response

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#8 Me Most Of The Days

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#9 Professional Work Email

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Rules related to politeness, however, can make exchanges feel too sanitized. For example, many rulebooks tell people to avoid exclamation points as much as possible. Still, people love using them. It’s often the go-to for people who wish to convey positive enthusiasm while still refraining from using emojis. In a similar vein, the above-mentioned study also referred to a time when an employee witnessed their boss swearing during a Zoom call. And while for some this might show an awful lack of self-containment, the employee loved it as it made them feel more at ease with their boss.

#10 I Was Just Going To Carry On Applying For Jobs With Chilli Beef Recipes

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#11 Tag, You’re It

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#12 So Crazy

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People also love getting less clean-cut emails because they can be more personal. Starting an exchange by asking your colleague how their vacation was or congratulating them on a big achievement can make them feel appreciated. Seeing your colleague’s pet or children, something that in a neatly organized work environment is not possible, can also help you relate to them and make you feel more connected.

#13 I Literally Giggled About This All Day

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#14 It’s A Matter Of Perspective

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#15 The Passive-Aggressive Smiley Gets Them Every Time

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These contradictions and obvious gaps prompted scientists to dig into the topic. The researchers of the aforementioned study suggest that netiquette should be regarded as separate from in-person etiquette. In fact, according to them, thinking that it’s the same thing just online is what got us here, where internet communication is playing catch-up with the fast-paced online landscape. They say there should not be any do’s and don’ts as it is all dependent on the situation and the context.

#16 As He Should

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#17 I Felt This

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#18 Fair Enough

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So, put those exclamation points wherever you want. Use an emoji here and there and attach a meme when needed. Talk to your boss about making a picture of Nicolas Cage your official signature—you never know what they might say. In other words, as long as you’re kind and polite, be your best online self that you can be. 

#19 Omg If I Were The Recipient I’d Be So Stoked. Would Show All My Friends And Make Them Jealous

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#20 Because You Spent Saturday And Sunday Thinking About That Email

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#21 I Wanted To Hurl Myself Into The Sun

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#22 It’s Almost Usable

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#23 Being A Millennial And Having To Deal With Work Emails

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#24 Those Exclamation Marks Are Key

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#25 Relatable

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#26 I Like This Way Better Than “I Hope This Email Finds You Well.” This Sender Can Read The Room And Knows No One Is Being Found Well These Days

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#27 In My Defense R, And T Are Quite Close

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#28 This Is So True

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#29 Company-Wide Emails Like This Usually Apply More To Some Than They Do To Others

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#30 No One Will Notice

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#31 Quick Thinking

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#32 I Don’t Know Why Am I This Way

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#33 My Friend Sent This Email To His CEO And All Employees Using A Fake Account. “No One Should Have To Poop In Fear”

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#34 We Got A Snowstorm Last Night. My (Female) Boss’s Email Probably Shocked A Few People In Our Office

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#35 I Sent This Email To My Coworker On My Second Day Of Work

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#36 Apologizing For Your Own Existence Is Generally Just The Polite Thing To Do

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#37 Lonely Weekend

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#38 Learn Something New Every Day

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#39 So True

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#40 Use Simply “Regards” To Convey Your Incandescent Rage

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#41 Gotta Be The Second One. Do It For The People Who Are Not Paying Attention To What Is In The Middle

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#42 Free Like A Bird

#43 Accurate

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#44 Could Never Find Me

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#45 This Is Genius

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#46 Is “Cheers” A Very British Thing To Say In An Email?

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#47 As A Precaution, I Leave The Building After Every Email

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#48 I’m Celebrating 10 Years Of This As My Email Signature At Work. To Date, Not One Person Has Noticed

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#49 You Can Never Have Too Many Hanks

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#50 Unique Work Email Sign-Off

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#51 Work Email

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#52 The Right Way Of Starting An Email

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#53 No Updates Yet

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#54 Normalize Tone Indicators In Work/Professional Environments

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#55 Going To Ignore The Other Messages You Sent Telling Me About The Email

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#56 I Think Fighting One Coworker Every Couple Of Months, Would Solve A Lot Of Problems

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#57 What A Lovely Poetry

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#58 This Is How I Effectively Sign-Off Emails Now

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#59 Working With People In Europe. What Is A Vacation Again?

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#60 If They Really Need It, They’ll Ask Again

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#61 The Worst

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#62 Rollercoaster Of Emotions

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#63 Unfortunate Mistype

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#64 I’ve Accidentally Sent An Email To The Wrong Person

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#65 My Biggest Work Email Fail

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#66 Passive-Aggressive Sign-Off

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#67 The Email Didn’t Find Me Well At All

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#68 My Spin Instructor Sent Me An Instagram Post Of My Tweet. I’ve Finally Made It

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#69 And No Meeting Invites. That’s Just Ridiculous

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#70 It Finds Me Well, And Leaves Me Not

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#71 That’s Why There Is An Archive Button. This Way, You Only Feel The Guilt Once, Then Forget About It

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#72 People Need To Know

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#73 And Each Will Wonder Which One They Are

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#74 Eeek

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#75 How I Confirm New Employee’s Email Is Working

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#76 That’s Why I Have At Least 2 Different Emails

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#77 This Rejection Email

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#78 My Husband Calls That Person My Representative

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#79 It’s Always Good To Have A Few Enemies To Keep You On Your Toes

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#80 More Like “I’m Trying My Best”

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#81 New Email Signature

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#82 Good Idea

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#83 This Is Why I Love Working Remotely

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#84 Get The Baby A Little Suit And Put Them In Reception

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#85 I Hope This Email Doesn’t Find You

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#86 Casual Email To My Boss

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#87 Dealing With Work Emails

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#88 I’ve Accidentally Attached The Wrong Photo And Sent It To My Boss

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#89 It’s Monday And You Know What That Means

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#90 This Is The Mood

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#91 When It’s More Of A Serious Email: “Trust All Is Well”

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#92 This Email Did Not Find Me Well

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#93 Indecisiveness Bites Back

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#94 Email Sign-Offs

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#95 I’m Using This As My Intro Going Forward

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#96 This Is How It Feels Talking To People Who Actually Have Energy Without Wanting To Seem Rude Or Uninterested

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#97 That Sounds Just Right

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#98 It Sounds Like He Needs A PR Team, A Manager, And An Assistant

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#99 Fighting Words

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#100 She Just Came Up To Me And Goes “(Chief’s Name) Just Told Me To Reread What I Sent Out. I Hate My Life”

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#101 Checking My Emails During The Vacation

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#102 I Emailed My Work Yesterday Morning To Let Them Know I Was Sick And Wouldn’t Be Able To Work

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#103 This Inspirational Quote In The Signature Of An Email I Received At Work

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#104 This

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#105 Who Am I? Where Am I? When Am I? Why Am I?

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#106 Me Every Workday

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#107 Most Insufferable Work Gibberish Phrase

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#108 Chaotic

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#109 Dealing With My Coworker

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#110 Sign-Offs And Their Meaning

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#111 Idea

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#112 I’m Not Alone

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Source: boredpanda.com