You know what really frosts my flakes?
One-word subject lines in emails.
Seriously, people, would it kill you to give me the slightest clue what your email is about? I get messages with subject lines like:
updates
last week
quick quick
yap
change
don’t forget
Requirement
recordings
web?
Cost?
“Change.” What am I supposed to do with that? Change WHAT? Your address? The meeting time? Your underwear? Give me something to work with here!
And “don’t forget.” Don’t forget WHAT? My appointment? Your birthday? To pick up milk? The Alamo?
Then there’s “quick quick.” Apparently, there wasn’t enough time to write an actual subject line, but there was plenty of time to type “quick” twice.
I understand people are busy. I’m busy, too. That’s precisely why I’d appreciate a subject line that tells me whether your message needs my attention now, sometime this week or sometime before the sun burns out.
A good subject line doesn’t require a committee meeting. Instead of “recordings,” how about “Recordings from Tuesday’s meeting”? Instead of “Cost?” try “Question about the cost of new service.”
Look at that! Five or six words and suddenly I know why you’re invading my inbox.
Ironically, the same people who specialize in one-word subject lines also seem to have misplaced the Shift key. Everything is lowercase.
Apparently, capitalization requires too much effort when you’ve already exhausted yourself typing an entire word.
Email subject lines are supposed to summarize the message. They’re not supposed to be riddles, vague hints or clues in some electronic scavenger hunt.
I’m Grandpa Grumpy, and if you want me to open your email, tell me up front why you’re bothering me. Otherwise, I think “delete” is a perfectly good one-word response.
You can find more of these rants at GrandpaGrumpy.com where you can download my 100 Undeniable Truths of Life for free.