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OVER HALF OF UK RESIDENTS SUFFERING FROM EMAIL "PPMT"
New research released today by Yahoo! Mail reveals how misunderstanding email can make us nervous wrecks in work and ruin our personal lives due to the phenomenon of PPMT (Pre and Post Mail Tension). Half (52%) of the 26,000 email users surveyed struggled to interpret personal emails leading to arguments and relationship break-ups. And a massive 61% of workers are worried about following the legacy of Claire Swires by having their private messages leaked out and going global - let alone around the office.
INBOX INTIMACY
In one of the biggest-ever surveys of it's kind, three-quarters of people questioned by Yahoo! Mail admitted to using email in an attempt to impress people they fancy. Women even prefer to make the first contact with those they fancy by email, although men prefer to pick up the phone and call before getting involved in email flirting.
Yahoo! Mail's research also reveals 'inbox expectations' can lead to trouble and time wasting as we get preoccupied with what the recipient does - or doesn't do - after we click 'send'. This includes:
· Two thirds (64%) of us have problems concentrating if we are waiting for an email reply from someone we fancy
· More than half (51%) of us waste time constantly checking and rechecking our email for a reply - almost the same number (52%) admit they 'hate' waiting for a response.
· Rather than write a straightforward reply over a third (35%) of us will stall what we are doing as we struggle and agonise over a witty reply to impress
When we do eventually get a reply, the troubles have only just begun. Reading too much into an email has led to over half of us misinterpreting the tone or content of an email. Of those, 12% have had an argument with a friend while 2% have even broken up with a partner over email misinterpretation.
EMAIL TROUBLE AT WORK
Our intimate chats can also get us into trouble elsewhere. A quarter of us (28%) live in fear of personal emails being sent to the boss by mistake, while a third are afraid of getting caught short by the Claire Swires effect - a friend forwarding personal emails from a work address and the contents spreading like wildfire online.
AVOID EMAIL PITFALLS
To educate email users on interpreting and making better use of email communication, Yahoo! Mail have developed email "Rules of Engagement" with Helen Petrie, Professor of Human Computer Interaction at City University and an email masterclass microsite has been set up by Yahoo! Mail to educate users into avoiding the common trap falls of email: www.yahoo.co.uk/emailmasterclass
Professor Petrie comments 'Email is a great way to make contact with people and maybe develop a romance. The problem of PPMT revealed by these statistics is caused not by email itself, but how people let their anticipation and expectation get the better of them.'
Alick Mighall, Head Producer at Yahoo! Mail, said "Email has become the primary form of communication for many people and it follows that people can easily make blunders. Yahoo! Mail is aiming to help people keep these mistakes to a minimum and avoid those embarrassing gaffes! My advice is to follow our tips and keep as much of your private correspondence to your Yahoo! account as possible."
Key regional results
1) People in the East Midlands are most likely to make initial contact with someone they fancy via email (40%). People in the North West are most likely to use SMS (27%)
2) Londoners find it most difficult to think of a witty reply in response to an email from someone they fancy (36%). People in NE England worry the most about private emails being seen by other people (33%)
3) Emailers in the Wales are obsessive about constantly checking their email to see if someone they fancy sent them a reply (83%). Emailers in the SW have the worst tempers, a quarter admitted they get angry or upset if the person they fancy doesn't send them a reply
4) Workers from the West Midlands (63% ) and Scotland (62%) live in most fear of their IT dept reading their personal mail. Workers in the SW are most fearful about colleagues tapping into their emails while they are away from their desks
5) 15% of people in the South West would be prepared to give up their mobile phones to keep email. 28% of Londoners would give up chocolate
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