Review of Lecture Ten
I. Ethics and Etiquette of Electronic Mail
A. Is E-Mail different than other forms of communication?B. Sending E-mail
Using BCC (Reference 9)
C. Receiving and RespondingJeff Bezos interview (Reference 2)
Q: What do you do to avoid being
completely deluged by e-mail?
A: Set aside some fraction of your
time as your own...
Later on--he uses e-mail
to learn what customers think
for thank you's--(JF thinks)
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II. "Computers, Networks, and Work"
Sproull and Kiesler
Scientific American, 1995
A. Network groups talkedmore frankly, more equally
B. Network groups generated more ideas
C. Take longer to make a decision
D. More flaming
III. Some miscellaneous e-mail experiences
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Social Relations--E-mail two
AccessMatching
Matching engines
Cutting costs
I. Access
E-mail is Biggest Activity on InternetLoss leader for ISP's--zero cost
Wireless e-mail appliance (Reference 5)
for those who need to be connected always
Two recent actions to increase usage
Organizational offerings
Free PC's
Organizational reactions to usage
Organizational offerings (NY Times, 13 Feb)
Ford Offering each of its 350,000 employeesA computer, printer, and unlimited access
for $5 per month
Delta, 80,000 employees, similar,
but not quite as generous
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Why is Ford doing this?
Increasing computer literacyFree (or almost free) PC'sSome concern that Ford will use it
for other reasons, e.g.,
disseminate information to employees
get people to work from home
stifle anti-Ford messages
for signing up for internet serviceOrganizational restrictions on access (Reference 1)for providing information
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"... 10% of the work force, were firedfor sending e-mail that violated standards
at the NY Times Co.'s business office
[in Norfolk, Virginia]."
employees had sent or forwarded
"potentially offensive e-mails"
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NY Times had rules about e-mail:
"... computer communications must beconsistent with conventional standards
of ethical and proper conduct, behavior and
manners and are not to be used to create,
forward or display any offensive or
disruptive messages, including photographs,
graphics and audio materials."
Management Looked at files-----------------------------------------------------------Monitored e-mail
Why did this happen?
No likely employee defense
One of the major goals of e-mail and
electronic communication in general is
matching
Matching customers with products-------------------------------------------------Matching people of like interests
Matching prospective partners
Cutting costs
Dating sites (References 4 and 6)
Over 1200 on the WebValentine's day articles in LA Times and Time
Match.com has grown from
300,000 members in 1997 to
2.5 million today
100,000 active members
Why are dating sites so popular?
Really started in FranceHonesty and frankness in e-mail
Old fashioned courting--talk, no touching
Beats single bars
AOL and gay chat rooms (Time sidebar)
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Auction sites
RetailBusiness-to-business
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E-Communities
Etzioni article (Reference 7)
"Virtual communities cannot provide nearlyas much subtle and encompassing knowledge
of members as a real community. But they
can include many more people. One's strong
suit is depth, the other's is breadth."
"It seems that e-communities can reach the--------------------------------------------------highest level of intimacy only if all the
building blocks are in place:
the number of participants is kept
relatively small,
admission is controlled to foster affinity,
and people drop their internet masks."
"The software does a statistical analysis
of the seeker's interests or communication
style, then sallies forth in search of someone
who appears to be compatible."
Yenta--
"... is designed to introduce its users to otherIV. Cutting costs--an examplelike-minded people at no cost to privacy."
Yenta to Yenta communication
"Cobot analyses transcripts of user interaction
from a chat room in LamdaMOO, an onlin community
that wa created in 1990 at Xerox's PARC laboratory
and is still popular among computer programmers."
Users check with Cobot to find out about themselves.
WWW publishing (LA Times, NY Times)
faster dissemination
Cut costs, e.g., thesis publication
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Social Relations--E-mail two
Access------------------------------------Matching
Matching engines
Cutting costs
Final Schedule--Monday or Friday?
Lunch on Wednesday
JF's office hours
Monday--group
Tuesday--dental appt
Posting grades
Marx Lecture--
Reference 3--Dot-com firms lacking
in Black Execs--