In Bambi, the hunter killed the deer. However, in a multimedia world, the new hunter of the 'Dear' is email.
Someone once told me that beginning an email with 'Dear' is not only considered archaic, but also mildly threatening within business communication. The work email has evolved considerably in a short space of time and the result is that the all too formal 'Dear', is no longer part of the cool crowd.
Whilst in school, I was taught to begin every correspondence with 'Dear', including letters to strangers, employers, family, best friends and even my diary. How else is one supposed to greet another in a formal yet friendly manner?! Hey, hello, hi, hiya, even howdy... A stream of greetings beginning with a 'H' crowd my mind each time I begin to type a work email. Usually I give in to the traditional 'Hey', but I cannot help but feel that it may be an inappropriate way to greet a commissioner of whom I have never liaised before. Then again, just like deer, commissioners have been known to be quite skittish, so a simple 'Hey' is usually the best way of ensuring your hard-sell doesn't look so hard.
Email politics... I cannot help but wonder if it should be included in the school curriculum. Of course we all learnt to send emails in school, but cyber speak is quickly evolving and is fast becoming a language of it's own. Not only do we have to worry about 'Dears', but there is a entire list of do's and don'ts:
Don't be too blunt, but also make sure that you aren't too elaborate. No one cares for metaphorical imagery when trying to organise a meeting with MTV.
Do be polite, but ensure that it does not come across as insincere.
Do ask personal questions - show an interest in the person. However, ask an inappropriately personal question and all could be lost.
Don't leave a kiss/ or do leave a kiss/ but if more superior than yourself, ensure that the other person is the first to leave a kiss.
Do copy in the relevant people - but perhaps state why this is the case.
Yes, the world of email is far more complicated that one may initially anticipate. Further complicated by social networking websites, in which one is expected to express themselves with 140 characters or less, familiarity within email is becoming less and less common. With a tendency myself to reply with one word emails here and there, I cannot help but miss the flowery language of the good old hand-written letter. Taking longer to form each word, more attention is placed upon what is being written. Perhaps we ought to log off, disconnect the modem, shut down our computers and revet to correspondence sent by post.
It may just be time to show the cool crowd what for and reclaim "old and boring" 'Dear'.
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