Does your e-mail make you sad?
“An e-mail has a way of making us impetuous. As S&S say, “It actually eggs us on. On e-mail, people aren’t quite themselves: they are angrier, less sympathetic, less aware. … E-mail has a tendency to encourage the lesser angels of our nature.”

Men and women seem to express themselves differently in email. According to Deborah Tannen, the Georgetown University linguist, women look for a personal element in any communication and expect a pleasantry or two before getting to the matter at hand. Men may use aggressive language because they find it funny. Women, not amused, can be offended. Men think teasing is funny. Women don’t. Men can get in trouble when using the style that comes naturally to them.”
I’m always interested in how online communications can be affected by seemingy unrelated things. I’m pretty sure I’ve startled, possibly even offended, people who expect me to use all the ‘womanly’ softeners and general fluffiness that can precede a request or statement, but if I’m in the middle of a long or on-going email conversation I’d rather skip all that.