When was the last time you received an email from someone that started with the word "dear..."? I'm guessing you haven't for quite a while, if indeed ever, as the electronic modes of communication we now use to send information to work colleagues, friends and relatives has changed and for those of us for whom email is the norm, we've probably never used it ourselves.
Of course, when people used to write letters to each other the use of the word 'Dear' was commonplace and the norm. It's how you started any letter and when writing it still seems quite normal, however email is different.
If I receive an email from someone with the word dear in it then I have a little chuckle to myself as it seems to be an extremely old and out-dated way to begin any conversation. These days we're more used to seeing the word "Hi" or "Hiya" at the top of emails - but is this a bad thing?
When letters were the norm, we would spend time crafting them, sometimes hand-written and very often very long. We had a lot of information to cram in and we had to make the cost of postage worth the while. Sometimes we'd include some extra information like a card or a picture and the whole effort involved meant we were doing something a bit special. Writing 'Dear...' at the beginning was therefore the precursor to a missive, something to be enjoyed at the recipient's leisure.
Now we have email and conversations have changed. Our communications are shorter and more to the point and we normally send them with the expectation that we'll get something back. We no longer fire off an email expecting it to be digested over time or read in a wing-backed chair. Our email probably provides a quick blast of information followed by a question. We then get a question back and the conversation continues.
With an exchange of letters it could take many weeks to successfully conclude an issue and very often we turn to the phone to sort it out. With email it is fully possible to use it as a means to build a conversation and there is usually a thread that can be followed.
So should the 'Dear..' be dropped? I think it should, in fact I never use it, never had and those that are saying we should use it more so it doesn't drop completely are fighting the wrong cause. What we should be doing is ensuring our emails are readable and understandable, not worrying about a word stuck at the top of the page that nobody really reads anyway.
Of course, when people used to write letters to each other the use of the word 'Dear' was commonplace and the norm. It's how you started any letter and when writing it still seems quite normal, however email is different.
If I receive an email from someone with the word dear in it then I have a little chuckle to myself as it seems to be an extremely old and out-dated way to begin any conversation. These days we're more used to seeing the word "Hi" or "Hiya" at the top of emails - but is this a bad thing?
When letters were the norm, we would spend time crafting them, sometimes hand-written and very often very long. We had a lot of information to cram in and we had to make the cost of postage worth the while. Sometimes we'd include some extra information like a card or a picture and the whole effort involved meant we were doing something a bit special. Writing 'Dear...' at the beginning was therefore the precursor to a missive, something to be enjoyed at the recipient's leisure.
Now we have email and conversations have changed. Our communications are shorter and more to the point and we normally send them with the expectation that we'll get something back. We no longer fire off an email expecting it to be digested over time or read in a wing-backed chair. Our email probably provides a quick blast of information followed by a question. We then get a question back and the conversation continues.
With an exchange of letters it could take many weeks to successfully conclude an issue and very often we turn to the phone to sort it out. With email it is fully possible to use it as a means to build a conversation and there is usually a thread that can be followed.
So should the 'Dear..' be dropped? I think it should, in fact I never use it, never had and those that are saying we should use it more so it doesn't drop completely are fighting the wrong cause. What we should be doing is ensuring our emails are readable and understandable, not worrying about a word stuck at the top of the page that nobody really reads anyway.
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