CIS 145 Course Work
Chapter 2 Summary 

     Chapter 2 focuses on email, which is a basic form of communication on the internet. In class and through reading we learned how it worked, its characteristics, and how to protect oneself from spam and viruses. Email is a protective form of communication at my job regarding private parties at the restaurant. Even when someone calls to discuss their upcoming party details, we refer them back to sharing details via electronic mail. That way what is agreed upon is timestamped and in writing, which is a saving grace when dealing with a difficult customer. For school, apart from Mr. Weidner who prefers communicating through the Remind App, most of my instructors thus far have preferred to communicate through email.
     In the reading material and live in class, we covered how one addresses their message to recipients using To, CC, and BCC. Our book identifies CC and BCC as Courtesy Copy and Blind Courtesy Copy, whereas most people use the word Carbon in place of Courtesy. When addresses are placed in the CC category those recipients can view the contents of the email message. The person who the mail was sent to can see who was cc’d, however, if someone is Bcc’d in the message it is hidden from everyone but them and the sender. I agree with my professor that this is an abused feature in email. It makes me think of the mean girls in high school, because most people use BCC with the intent of getting someone in trouble. What one person thinks is a private conversation is being shared secretly with a third party. BBC can be a handy feature though. When a sender wants a message out to a lot of people, they can use BBC to keep everyone’s addresses confidential to one another.
     The chapter also discusses the cons of email: Spam and viruses. Luckily most services allow filters so mail coming in could either be deleted or moved to another folder based on the message and your filter parameters. This is very helpful when spam becomes overwhelming. We also spoke about forwarding. This is when a user takes an existing message and forwards it on to someone else, which could be useful. I have seen many emails about how I will perish in the next few minutes unless I forward the message on to everyone in my contact list. The problem with this is that every address included in that message gets forwarded on for strangers to see and possibly take advantage of. It makes me think about Facebook and my many friends’ forwarding wall posts…I usually ignore those and hate when I am tagged in one. Many web users abuse email and try to send viruses or steal someone’s personal information through links. Many of these links take you to a fake but convincing page that asks for login credentials or personal information. Typically, the only link I click on in a message is to validate my email after creating an account with the sender’s website.
     My very first email was ksnoozer0605@aol.com. It was created by my parents so I could have a Myspace page. Today, I use multiple email accounts. I still have an old school AOL address which I jokingly refer to as my spam email. It is used for most of my accounts like target, amazon, streaming services, etc. I also have a Gmail address for all my gaming accounts. The book recommends having multiple addresses, but also being sure the name of the address is professional. I use another Gmail account for most of my personal and professional communication. I am sure to be specific in my subject line and I always follow proper netiquette when composing my messages. Remember once you send an email, what you said is in writing so be sure to be careful with what you say and how you say it.

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