E-mail and Behavioral Changes: Uses and Misuses of Electronic Communications

By Fernando Lagrana

This book is a study of the causes of spam, the behaviors associated to the generation of and the exposure to spam, as well as the protection strategies. The new behaviors associated to electronic communications are identified and commented.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the number of e-mail and textual messages in your inbox, be it on your laptop, your Smartphone or your PC? This book should help you in finding a wealth of answers, tools and tactics to better surf the ICT wave in the professional environment, and develop proper protection strategies to mitigate your exposure to spam in any form.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Mar 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9781119285120

Book preview

Preamble

Puisqu’après tant d’efforts ma résistance est vaine, Je me livre en aveugle au destin qui m’entraîne.

(Since, despite all my endeavors my resistance is in vain, I will blindly surrender to where destiny leads me….)

Jean Racine, Andromaque

Angel’s day

Angel Rafran paused at the end of the day before going to bed. He was sitting at home, on his terrace and was sipping a glass of very fine brandy while enjoying the gentle spring breeze. Despite the magic of the moment, he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering and passing in front of his eyes were the different stages and meetings of the day.

As usual, he got up early, to enjoy a light-hearted breakfast with his wife Isabel and their daughter Esmerelda. Then he briefly talked to Patricia, Esmerelda’s teacher, while he was taking Esmerelda to school and had carefully noted the recommendations the teacher had made.

The school was very close to Saint-Jean Station and he arrived just in time for the 7.19 train. He made the most of the 26-minute journey to Cornavin Station where his office was, to read over the draft minutes of the latest meeting of the Vaudois council of the Swiss Accountants Union. He had been elected the secretary of this local council two months earlier and was determined that his first report should be as good as those drawn up by his predecessors.

The morning went by without a hitch. He was satisfied with his job as Head of Division, Budgeting, in the finance department of a mobile phone operator, MobdotCom (MDC). He had reviewed two reports for the preparation of quarterly evaluations, had organized a brief meeting with his team of three professionals, before calling to see his supervisor to update him on the business pending.

His lunch break had been far more stimulating: after months of training like a lunatic, he had finally succeeded in beating his colleague and friend Rodolfo for the first time, in what remained for a long time, one of the epic matches played in the fitness center of MDC. He was so happy about his win – finally, victory against Rodolfo! – he had decided to celebrate that with some colleagues over a glass at Chez Laurel, his favorite bar. Rodolfo, who must have led by 50 victories to 1, had laughed heartedly seeing him aglow with happiness….

Later, on the way back home, he got off the train a stop early and called in on his parents. Then, he continued the journey on foot to join his family again for dinner and enjoy this marvelous evening that was drawing gently to a close on this terrace….

The sound of footsteps made him jump and he realized that he had dozed off. Isabel had placed her hand on his shoulder.

You look exhausted, she said to him. You should go to bed. Are you going to continue destroying your eyes on that screen?

He looked at his wife dazed and asked what had happened to him, where he was and it took him a few seconds to come back to reality. He was sitting at home, at his desk, a glass of whiskey in his hand, not cognac – when had he been given that?

And then, everything came back to him….

As was his custom, he got up early to share in the cheerfulness at breakfast with his wife Isabel and their daughter Esmerelda. Isabel had made it quite clear that he should not read his e-mails at home: he had the time to do it once he was at the office! Then he left Esmerelda at school where Patricia, the nursery school teacher, having noticed how he had not the time nor the inclination to pay attention as he was frantically tapping away on his smartphone, had told him she would phone him later in the day to talk to him about his daughter and to make some recommendations.

Thankfully, the school was very close to the Saint Jean Station and he arrived just in time for the 7.19 train. He wanted to make the most of the 26-minute journey to Cornavin, the station near his office, to read over the draft summary record of the latest meeting of the Vaudois Chapter of the Swiss Accountants Union. He had been elected secretary of the local chapter two months previous and he was determined that his first report should be as well drafted as those of his predecessors. However, he was still disturbed by the brush with his wife and by the fact that the teacher wanted to speak to him – he did not know about what – and he found it hard to concentrate on his work.

At the office, the morning had been very stressful. He was happy with his position as the head of the Budget division of the Department of Finance with a mobile phone operator, Mobdotcom (MDC) but the moments of heightened stress and urgency were increasing 10 fold. He had reviewed two reports in preparation for the quarterly evaluations, had organized a brief meeting with his team of three executives, before calling in quickly to see his supervisor and give him an update on business developments. All of these activities had been constantly interrupted by phone calls on his mobile (including the one from Patricia the teacher that he was only half paying attention to), e-mails, calls for meetings, and even colleagues bursting into his office to ask him if he had read the messages they sent minutes earlier.

Luckily, his lunch break brought him a little breathing space. After months of training like a maniac, he had almost succeeded in beating his friend and colleague Rodolfo for the first time in what could remain one of the most epic matches played in the Gym at MDC. Alas, they could not finish the match because the regional manager called Rodolfo to join an unexpected conference call. With offices in three continents, the best time for conference calls was indeed 1pm, when the Chilean colleagues were getting up and the office in Bangkok was finishing off for the day.

Despite this, Angel was very happy with his match and he had decided to celebrate it with some colleagues over a glass in Chez Laurel, his favorite bar. Cocktails were excellent as usual, but the atmosphere was a bit dull: most of his colleagues spent their time on their phones or typing up messages and the conversation didn’t take off.

Later, on the journey home he had got off a station before his and had called to visit his parents. He spent a good half an hour in front of their new computer and the new social network they had subscribed to, and they had told him that they hoped now to receive photos of the family in this way. Suddenly, Esmerelda called to say she was waiting for him in front of the school and he hurriedly left his parents. He had forgotten to pick up his daughter!

But he made a new resolution: he would not let anyone interrupt his evening meal with his family. He resisted this all evening, had checked his e-mails and had even decided to turn off his smartphone.

Until that message…

The vibration and the notification had caught his attention and he regretted immediately the reflex gesture that made him grab his phone. The message came from his head of department at Mobdotcom. Angel should go and see him first thing the next day to discuss his contract with the company.

He needed something strong to deal with it. He poured himself a glass of whiskey (there was no cognac) and – somewhat affected by this announcement – and by the strong alcohol, he overcame the exhaustion and fell asleep at his desk.

It was there that Isabel had found him…

Introduction

I.1. Electronic communication, what is the problem?

Have you been overwhelmed by the amount of mail and text messages in your e-mail inbox, be it on your mobile, your personal computer, or your smartphone? Have you been harassed by a colleague demanding an immediate response to his e-mails? Are you, sometimes, annoyed by constantly being interrupted by notifications, telephone calls, messages and by not being able to concentrate on what you are doing? Have you received important information about your career by message, when you believed this should have been dealt with by a meeting in person?

Or maybe you have sent a message or answered your phone while driving? Or even tripped up while checking your messages while walking? Perhaps you have wondered if the people who are talking to themselves in the street, if the members of your family who appear completely unavailable at family mealtime, if your usually reasonable friend who has been posted drunk and dishevelled on a social network, were not heralding a societal change that you could not identify with?

You have, therefore, found yourself in situations similar to those in which Angel Rafran found himself throughout that day.

But there are several more similar situations!

Have you ever had to put an end to a heated dispute between teammates wound up by a bit of a lively conversation which was spread on the companies’ network through electronic mail? Are you sometimes concerned about the cost of your company’s IT resources for private use? Have you already asked yourself while opening up your messages on a Monday morning if it is reasonable that the staff in your department spend Sunday evening reading the e-mails awaiting them and send others all over the place? Is your work in the office mainly centering on your e-mail, be it your work computer, your laptop, your mobile phone or your smartphone?

Those are only some examples taken from the daily practice of millions of e-mail and digital communication users, which illustrate certain challenges the introduction of e-mail, in the workplace and in personal use, calls on us to rise up to, sometimes urgently!

If we believe in experience, such as is discussed next to the coffee machine as soon as the problem of spam is brought up – in all its forms – it would seem that these questions are considered by many as inexplicable and the problems mentioned here to be the obligatory and inescapable consequence of progress.

But does the progress justify the abuse that some should fall victim to? That someone could die at the wheel because they feel obliged to answer a colleague’s or a client’s phone-call? Or that it is possible to see one’s private life exposed online and brought up at a job interview or during a close and sensitive negotiation? That someone should report that the mobile phone of one of their teammates with whom they are at odds is full of confidential information?

In fact, it is not the case at all…. We can benefit from the technological advancement without becoming a workaholic, or the victim.

The aim of this book is to observe without judging the behavior of everyone faced with Information Technology and to discover how to avoid the flaws of electronic communication, and in particular e-mail. A glossary is established in this way.

It is also a support tool for those who feel potential victims, so as to put in place protective strategies when faced with a constant influx of e-mails and various messages.

For it is not those who receive the most e-mails, who are the most snowed under, but those who do not know how to use the tool properly or those who do not know how to protect themselves effectively.

This book is a guide to find and establish fair practice with the aim of facilitating work–life balance in an age where these two worlds become intertwined with due to electronic proximity.

As with all electronic tools, the use of e-mail as a means of communication has promoted the emergence of new practices. These practices are sometimes linked to a lack of skill in the use of the tool, sometimes as a consequence of the specific characteristics, and can transform a simple e-mail into its dark and harmful alter ego: spam. That is why we aim to observe these particular characteristics and the various damaging behaviors associated with messaging, so as to offer the keys of analysis and of presenting the techniques: the tricks and tips to avoid the traps of mail and spam.

Again, it is necessary to agree on what spam is. The usual definitions are still far from being complete and satisfactory. Generally, this term covers unprompted business mail, the electronic equivalent to the good old leaflet that inundated our letter boxes of long ago. But the latter are much less difficult to oppose than the friendly spam i.e. useless e-mail, even aggressive or insulting but always unsettling as we receive them from reliable sources like our colleagues, supervisors, subordinates, customers or even friends and family to whom we cannot always refuse access to our professional e-mail address.

This book is meant to be a guide, toolbox, glossary and initiation manual to the favorite of the professionals: the e-mail. And this exploration will come across some of the misdemeanors in the world of electronic communication, a natural extension of the e-mail in particular, since the latter has begun roaming with the arrival in the market of mobile communication and information processing tools.

1

Electronic Mail

1.1. Electronic mail, what is it exactly?

If e-mail is a well-established communication tool and seemingly wellknown, its official definition is not necessary. According to the General Commission of Terminology and Neology1 and the list of terms relating to electronic mail in the official journal of