• Email is meant for informal communication to facilitate administrative work in Aiken County Public Schools

• The most effective Email is concise, clear, and relevant.

• Email spam attacks and unsolicited Emails from inappropriate sources occur constantly and occasionally slip through our filters.   *To avoid any embarrassing predicaments, always delete the Email before opening it.

• Avoid replying to spam or any unsolicited email, even if your reply is a request to stop the messages. Replying to these messages only confirms that your address is active with a live user.

• Do not use the email auto-reply feature. Though it may seem conscienscious to set your messages to auto-reply when you know you will be unable to check them for an extended period of time, an automated reply will be sent to spammers and unsolicited messages as well as legitimate messages confirming that your address is active with a live user.

  Also, if you are a member of any listservs, then your auto-reply will go out to every other member on the list each time there is a message sent to the group. Your auto-reply message may even respond to another auto-reply message setting off a "ping-pong" effect between mail servers. This kind of traffic quickly takes up server ../resources and can have a crippling effect on server speed and function across a computer network.

• Avoid opening Emails that end with a domains of .ru, .cn, or other international domains unless you know the person.   Most unsolicited Emails are from countries outside the US.

• Avoid attempts at sarcasm or irony in Emails.

• Email should not be considered private.  Confidential information should not be sent by Email.

Electronic mail is both a unique and quick form for facilitation of information. Messages can be forwarded and replied to with speed
and ease.

• Email is easily and sometimes inadvertently forwarded to someone else.  Although this is convenient, it is not always appropriate.

• Email replies may go to more people than you expect.  When replying to a message, check the list of recipients.  Not paying attention to the details of the recipients may redistribute your message to dozens or hundreds of individuals when using the reply button of an Email program.

• Email can be junk mail, so avoid unnecessary proliferation of messages.

• Email takes up computer server space, so delete messages you no longer need.

• If you receive an Email that is upsetting, do not respond immediately.  Avoid sending angry or rude Emails.

• Avoid clicking on links in an unsolicited Email.