106 LANGUAGE AND THE INTERNET
The overriding impression I have, even from such a small sam-
ple of material, is of the remarkable amount of variation which
is found within the medium. E-mail guidebooks present a much
more standardized picture, and in their recommendations reduce
the range of options quite considerably. One of them is unequivocal
in its support for first-name only: ‘Start the message with the per-
son’s first name if you’re communicating with a person you know
on that basis.’^16 It is equally opposed to what it calls ‘outdated
or gender-specific forms, such asDear SirsorGentlemen,from
traditional business correspondence’. Similar points are made in
relation to farewells. Forms such asYours sincerelyare proscribed;
single-word formulae such asThanksorBest(or abbreviated forms,
as withTHXorTTFN, p. 85) are commended. At the same time,
this guide is aware that cultural differences exist: ‘Be aware that
greetings tend to be more formal and traditional in someparts of
the world, such as Japan and Europe’ (the authors are writing from
a US perspective, hence the unitarian view of Europe). No recogni-
tionisgiventothepossibilitythatculturaldifferencesofotherkinds
exist, which should also be allowed for – such as the differences of
taste between people of different ages, personalities, professions,
and social backgrounds. I actually find the spontaneous mateyness
of many Americans congenial, readily accept first-name usage, and
useittoothersmyselfwhenevertherearenocontra-indicationsthat
I might be causing upset; but I also know that many people have
a personality or background which does not allow them this free-
dom of address, and who feel uncomfortable when their familiar
and established address procedures are contravened. They immedi-
ately feel excluded from the medium. After reading one particularly
prescriptive usage manual – prescriptive in its recommendations
for informality, that is (p. 73) – a retired teacher commented, ‘So
e-mail’s not for me, then’. Of course it is. It is the manual that needs
revision.
(^16) Angell and Heslop (1994). These quotations are from pp. 21–2 (for greetings) and p. 31
(for farewells).