Netiquette: Four Ways to Say Thank You on the Web

Using the internet instead of face-to-face interactions and phone calls puts a lot of the guess work back into communications. Often when you’re just dealing with text it’s hard to tell if someone is being impatient, sarcastic, grateful, or just neutral A simple follow-up e-mail can come across as huffy and rude. Here are a few tips on expressing your gratitude online.

1) Tweak your e-mail signature. Lindsey had a great post on ideas for e-mail signatures last month. Her advice was wise. “Thanks,” can work before a signature, but it shouldn’t be used for every e-mail. Next time you’re especially grateful for someone’s help, whether it’s a co-worker, a client, a sponsor, or anyone really, consider swapping out your default e-mail signature for a simple “Thank you for your help.” The more specific you get with your closing gratitude, the more sincere they will know it is. For example, instead of just “Thanks,” try: “Thanks for finding that data for me. You saved me so much time,” or “Thank you for your generous sponsorship. You have no idea how much your help will enhance the gala next week,”

2) Express your gratitude in your social networking plan. I learned a lot about this during our Entrepreneurship Week campaign. During the course of the week, I “Liked” all of our sponsors and followed them all on Twitter, so our “thank you” messages would automatically link readers to their pages. It’s free and easy to draw attention to anyone who helps you out on the social web. Be specific, be timely, and recognize your partners and sponsors often.

3) Avoid E-cards. You may think it’s cute and sincere to tweak background noises and banners to set up the perfect e-card. Frankly, most people just don’t want to make time for them. At best, the recipient might think the e-card is spam. At worst, the recipient will think it’s unprofessional. Keep thank yous simple. Include the message in the body of the e-mail. Save the dancing animals for your relatives.

4) Remember: The pen is mightier than the mouse. Yes, a thank you e-mail is great and polite. However, sometimes you’ll find yourself in situations where you want to go the extra mile. Maybe you’ve applied for a competitive grant and a lender has just toured your projects, along with six others. If the other six people write thank you e-mails, but you physically send a thank you card, guess who they’re going to remember? When the situation is pertinent, but not time-sensitive a pen and paper thank you card goes a long way. That’s not to say you can forget the netiquette, just supplement it.

While we’re at it, thanks for reading this!