My experience with email has changed a lot since I got an iphone. This device is great because it alerts me when I receive emails, thus I never really have to actively check my inbox, per se. I receive emails as if I am receiving a text message, but I usually wait until I get to a computer before I reply, simply because it is much easier to use correct grammar when using a keyboard than on a mobile phone keypad. My strategy when writing emails is to tailor my writing to the audience--for example, I will always write very formal emails to professors and internship coordinators, and the like. I always make sure to use good punctuation and grammar, and I always review my emails many times before I send them. I am very well aware that it is hard to communicate tone of voice in emails and thus I avoid sarcasm and try to read my emails from the perspective of a third party. By trying to objectively analyze my emails, I can more easily tell what works in different settings. In more informal emails, I still tend to use correct English grammar because it visually looks much better to me, but I don't review what I write. I figure that my friends and family know my sense of humor and will understand what I mean in different contexts.

I guess that my situation with email is not that much different from many other peoples'. I am always very concerned that my emails will not be formal enough, and so I always try and err on the side of caution before I hit the send button. I have never really been the type of person to shorten every word in the English language because I actually view that as somewhat of a hassle. I like writing emails with complete sentences because I think that communication is much more smooth--it takes extra time trying to decipher an email written in coded abbreviations, and I don't like burdening people with that task. Also, frankly, I am somewhat of a organization freak and I care to see that my emails look crisp and clean. It makes me feel better about what I am sending. Many people use convenience as the rationality for sending abbreviated casual emails, but I think that often the most convenient emails are those that are in crisp English and take the least amount of time to decode.