Blank Emails

[Surianne]

Ah, thanks for clarifying, OP -- the theatre bio one seems very unusual to me.  I was imagining something more like an email header that said "Reminder - bio for Thingummy Hall due Sunday" which would contain all of the info you needed.  Very strange.

[Twik]

We do this at work, especially if person A needs to get a message to person B while one or the other ( or both) are in as meeting. I never thought of it as rude, rather as ''efficient''

It strikes me as very inefficient, because you're not actually getting a message to person B, unless A and B have agreed in advance that a blank message has a particular meaning. Getting a blank message is sort of like having someone poke you. It doesn't, by itself, convey anything other than "give me your attention!"

If I receive a blank message, I will respond with "What can I do for you? I'm afraid your message didn't go through." Then the other person will have to actually type out what they want. This means we have exchanged 3 messages to do the work of one.

[Yvaine]

If the subject line conveys the whole message, I can see the purpose. Totally blank, I'd think it was an accident and not catch the clue at all.

[ti_ax]

she said 'everybody does this, it's a standard reminder'.

How can you remind someone of something you never told them in the first place?

[IWish]

Free Range,

Is this rental through an on-line rental agency such as VRBO (Vacations Rentals By Owner) or such? Because if so, there has been a rash of scams where someone hacks into the owners' emails and sends payment requests out to the potential renters. They give them new instructions on where to send the rental fees. The emails look like they come from the original homeowner since the email address is the same. By the time the renter and the homeowner figure it out, the money is long gone. It's been a real problem for several of these rental sites.

So, I might have my guard up if I suddenly got an email that somehow seemed "off" from my previous emails with the homeowner. And this does seem "off" based on what you've said. Just a thought.

[Free Range Hippy Chick]

No, this is a private rental. We have actually stayed there twice before but since once was 15 years ago and once was 7 I don't think the owner remembers us and we never dealt by email until this year.

Frankly I think I'm sticking with 'you sent me a blank email; do you want something?'

[Surianne]

I think that's a good way to handle it. 

[cwm]

Between co-workers, not an issue.  Between clients, not professional.

Agreed. My mom and I work in the same company, same building, different departments. If we need to pass a quick note, we'll send an email with no body, all the information is in the subject. I'll even do it to my sister for something informal, and she'll do the same to me or mom. With our email client, it comes up as a popup on screen if we're at our desk with the subject displayed. And in our email client, the subject is displayed without having to select the email. Very easy for short messages.

I would never email a client like that, and I wouldn't expect them to do that to me.

[TootsNYC]

If your subject line says "last payment due 6/15," there's sort of nothing left to say.

Niceties, like "thank you for your business" or something. But nothing of any substance.

And I think w/ alot of people reading email on their smartphone, it's handy to have the subject line be the entire substance.

I don't think it's rude at all--just a different style.

OP, what did the subject line say?

Most email programs won't let you send a message that's COMPLETELY empty.

[Free Range Hippy Chick]

It said 'The Lodge' or whatever the name of the holiday cottage is. Nothing else at all. And we've looked up the contract and the rent is in fact not due this Friday which was when we thought it was, it's due on the 30th.

[daen]

If your subject line says "last payment due 6/15," there's sort of nothing left to say.

Niceties, like "thank you for your business" or something. But nothing of any substance.

And I think w/ alot of people reading email on their smartphone, it's handy to have the subject line be the entire substance.

I don't think it's rude at all--just a different style.

OP, what did the subject line say?

Most email programs won't let you send a message that's COMPLETELY empty.

It said 'The Lodge' or whatever the name of the holiday cottage is. Nothing else at all. And we've looked up the contract and the rent is in fact not due this Friday which was when we thought it was, it's due on the 30th.

In that case, it's my opinion that even if this is what everybody is doing, either she hasn't quite grasped the fine details, or everyone around her (bar you) is psychic.

That's simply not enough information for proper communication.

[wyliefool]

Even in cases where there's a short note and it's considered 'efficient', such as 'be there at 11', the proper netiquette is to then write (nt) for 'no text'. Because otherwise the recipient may not know that there's nothing more to the message, and may open the email, which wastes their time. Some email clients may show in the pop-up that there's no text, but even still if you aren't there when the pop-up pops, all you'll see is the subject and you'll open the email to see if there's anything more.

I've seen this done in online forums where people are in a conversation much of which fits in the subject lines. So there's a string of 'blahblah (nt)' which is indeed efficient but would be highly irritating w/o the (nt) there to let one know not to bother clicking.

In the case of the OP's biog lady, that's just weird.

[PastryGoddess]

Not everyone knows what (nt) means.  I have never seen it before and I would consider myself pretty web savvy.  I mean it would be pretty obvious once I opened my message, that the subject was the information I needed.

it's like using POD, that has a very specific usage, but is not by any means universally used throughout the web.

Remember, just because you (general) see or use an acronym or abbreviation all of the time, doesn't mean that everyone else does.

[wyliefool]

Not everyone knows what (nt) means.  I have never seen it before and I would consider myself pretty web savvy.  I mean it would be pretty obvious once I opened my message, that the subject was the information I needed.

it's like using POD, that has a very specific usage, but is not by any means universally used throughout the web.

Remember, just because you (general) see or use an acronym or abbreviation all of the time, doesn't mean that everyone else does.

What I generally do, the first time I use it w/ someone, is write in the body area "(nt) means 'no text.'" That way if they didn't know, they do now.    Then the next time I don't bother w/ that.

[citadelle]

In my workplace, "eom" meaning "end of message" is used. I think the concept is pretty universal, but the abbreviations may not be.