I actually think email is amazing, it is actually quite mind-boggling to think that information I type into a message is received by another person within minutes, anywhere in the world…So I don’t have any issues with email as such but it does have its problems.
One of the most annoying things in my view is the use of “cc” , It would seem that not everyone uses it in the same way. My understanding (i could be wrong of course) is that the use of “cc” is to ensure that those people who are included in the “cc” field are included “for information” purposes and are not being asked the questions related in the email.
However with the emergence of social networks and forums etc, is the “cc” field actually still a valid field to use. If you feel someone ought to be made aware of a communication and feel that there is a potential for them to contribute then why don’t we just include them in the main message.
I know it isn’t really a problem and it doesn’t even matter to most people…but on days when you need to prioritise your mailbox, those messages where I am not the primary intended receiver then I will leave them for another day.
I guess just another reason why we ought to rethink our use of communications technologies.
Ok rant over…
A journey through life - Carl's Notepad 
Carl,
Glad you brought it up. This is something that really gets my goat, too. I am very much of the opinion that recipients who need to respond or action something on the back of the email need to be in the ‘to’ field; recipients who are included for information purposes only should be in the ‘cc’ field.
I get particularly angry when I’m CC’d on an email that then, in the body, asks me a question; I have mailbox rules set up to file mails I’m CC’d on so that they don’t “get in my way” and that I can look at when I’m in “review mode”.
I also get really annoyed when someone emails me something and then comes over and tells me that they’ve emailed me something, but that’s a whole other blog post.
Ady
Yes, the email you and then come over issue, is something which makes me chuckle.
I’ve not set up mailbox rules but I will now….i think that might raise awareness by default.
Agree with this! Check research here which analaysed 3.000 e-mails and determined whether the CC was necessary.
http://askthemanager.com/2008/08/the-six-worst-business-email-etiquette-mistakes-ever/
Thanks Peter, I knew there would be something out there which backed this up…I guess I’m getting lazy with my web research as it is always great to ask for help from others.
Thanks for the link, Peter. That’s been bookmarked for future reference.