4 ms·

> If the entire email fits in the subject, put it in the subject. There is a special place in hell for the people that do this. I'll hope you get there as fast

> If the entire email fits in the subject, put it in the subject. There is a special place in hell for the people that do this. I'll hope you get there as fast as possible. Seriously, Just because you have preview windows set to display the subject as a paragraph, doesn't mean I've got the same set up on my blackberry. If you want me to answer, write the text of the email where it friggin belongs, not in the subject line.

noinput 15y ago
Couldn't agree more. Let's look at the majority of email someone gets paired with the average workflow of actually reading email. 1. mail comes in, 2. glance at subject. {insert personal workflow.. pause, sort, filter, instant reply, et c.} 3. open email. now, what takes longer, the expectation of seeing real content and processing it or the shock that someone just put the entire email in the subject line and figuring out what to do next with it. special place in hell +1.
Goladus 15y ago
The author is not suggesting to cram a substantial paragraph into the subject line. That comment comes directly after a suggestion to limit the subject to 72 characters or less. If your blackberry cannot handle 72 characters that's a mail reader limitation most people don't have.
- ryanlchan 15y ago
  This, combined with a polite [EOM] tag, makes subject-messages much more rapid than writing a full email. I have much more rage at people who type e-mails with nonsensical subject lines that are just as long than their body content. Would you rather have someone email you with: 1) Subj: Can you print an extra copy of the Excel for 10AM? Thanks! [EOM] 2) Subj: Quick request for you before our meeting today Body: Can you print an extra copy of the Excel for 10AM? Personally, I much prefer the first.
  - jamesbritt 15y ago
    Personally, I much prefer the first. Do most people know what [EOM] means? I'd never seen it before. Given the context I guessed it means "end of message" or "entirety of message", but were I to have first seen it as part of an E-mail I'd have no idea and would just go read the body.
    - estel 15y ago
      That just goes back to the far more fundamental point of writing emails (or anything else) for your audience. One should always write for their audience, not some given set of rules.
    - qeorge 15y ago
      I've been EOMing for about 2 years. Its a great tip, I recommend it. No, I don't think most people have seen it before, but they seem to figure it out and several of my clients have adopted the habit. No one has been annoyed, or confused. Getting over my fear of people reading too much into my email tone has been a huge productivity boost in general.
    - brown9-2 15y ago
      Eom or n/t seems like the kind of thing that you figure out the very first time you see it.
      - a-priori 15y ago
        The first time I saw it, I thought they forgot to type a message.
  - mquander 15y ago
    EOM? Ever since the start of time I have been using n/t for this. n/t = no text.
- ryanlchan 15y ago
  This, combined with a polite [EOM] tag, makes subject-messages much more rapid than writing a full email. I have much more rage at people who type e-mails with nonsensical subject lines that are just as long than their body content. Would you rather have someone email you with: Subj: Can you print an extra copy of the Excel for 10AM? Thanks! [EOM] or Subj: Quick request for you before our meeting today Body: Can you print an extra copy of the Excel for 10AM? Personally, I much prefer the first.
- mestudent 15y ago
  There are plenty of people who do this and I would much rather have the subject in the body as well, as my android client will put the subject at the top, a place I'm unlikely to look. It probably stems from the fact that I visually filter by email address more than subject line.
alexk7 15y ago
I put a copy of the subject line inside the body. I think it's good style to ignore the presence of a title or subject in the body of any text.
burke 15y ago
Yes and no. If the entire content of the email is something like "Can you please add me to the new repository for X?", I have no problem with that being the subject line with a blank (or "Thanks!") body. I'm with you on paragraph-style subject lines though.

noinput 15y ago

Couldn't agree more. Let's look at the majority of email someone gets paired with the average workflow of actually reading email. 1. mail comes in, 2. glance at subject. {insert personal workflow.. pause, sort, filter, instant reply, et c.} 3. open email. now, what takes longer, the expectation of seeing real content and processing it or the shock that someone just put the entire email in the subject line and figuring out what to do next with it. special place in hell +1.

Goladus 15y ago

The author is not suggesting to cram a substantial paragraph into the subject line. That comment comes directly after a suggestion to limit the subject to 72 characters or less. If your blackberry cannot handle 72 characters that's a mail reader limitation most people don't have.

ryanlchan 15y ago
This, combined with a polite [EOM] tag, makes subject-messages much more rapid than writing a full email. I have much more rage at people who type e-mails with nonsensical subject lines that are just as long than their body content. Would you rather have someone email you with: 1) Subj: Can you print an extra copy of the Excel for 10AM? Thanks! [EOM] 2) Subj: Quick request for you before our meeting today Body: Can you print an extra copy of the Excel for 10AM? Personally, I much prefer the first.
- jamesbritt 15y ago
  Personally, I much prefer the first. Do most people know what [EOM] means? I'd never seen it before. Given the context I guessed it means "end of message" or "entirety of message", but were I to have first seen it as part of an E-mail I'd have no idea and would just go read the body.
  - estel 15y ago
    That just goes back to the far more fundamental point of writing emails (or anything else) for your audience. One should always write for their audience, not some given set of rules.
  - qeorge 15y ago
    I've been EOMing for about 2 years. Its a great tip, I recommend it. No, I don't think most people have seen it before, but they seem to figure it out and several of my clients have adopted the habit. No one has been annoyed, or confused. Getting over my fear of people reading too much into my email tone has been a huge productivity boost in general.
  - brown9-2 15y ago
    Eom or n/t seems like the kind of thing that you figure out the very first time you see it.
    - a-priori 15y ago
      The first time I saw it, I thought they forgot to type a message.
- mquander 15y ago
  EOM? Ever since the start of time I have been using n/t for this. n/t = no text.
ryanlchan 15y ago
This, combined with a polite [EOM] tag, makes subject-messages much more rapid than writing a full email. I have much more rage at people who type e-mails with nonsensical subject lines that are just as long than their body content. Would you rather have someone email you with: Subj: Can you print an extra copy of the Excel for 10AM? Thanks! [EOM] or Subj: Quick request for you before our meeting today Body: Can you print an extra copy of the Excel for 10AM? Personally, I much prefer the first.
mestudent 15y ago
There are plenty of people who do this and I would much rather have the subject in the body as well, as my android client will put the subject at the top, a place I'm unlikely to look. It probably stems from the fact that I visually filter by email address more than subject line.

alexk7 15y ago

I put a copy of the subject line inside the body. I think it's good style to ignore the presence of a title or subject in the body of any text.

burke 15y ago

Yes and no. If the entire content of the email is something like "Can you please add me to the new repository for X?", I have no problem with that being the subject line with a blank (or "Thanks!") body. I'm with you on paragraph-style subject lines though.