Are Greetings and Closings in Emails Necessary?

[Steve Paxton]

English Stack Exchange has an interesting poll asking whether or not "greetings and salutations are redundant in an e-mail?" Take a peek here.

Some responses:

"Some sensitivity to age and formality is needed to answer this question. A formal note does not change in structure because it's being sent via email. There's nothing special or magical about email that gives one permission to be forward, rude, or insulting.

When writing to older persons, persons in authority, superiors, et al, I recommend a salutation and a complimentary close. These are not "wastes of time" by any means - they serve very specific functions if you are skilled in their use. Both the opening and the close allow you to frame your relationship with the recipient. For example:

Melissa:

Hi Melissa:

Dear Melissa:

These all have a different feel and express a different kind of tone. Paired with the proper close, you have no need for silly emoticons and winkies and such.

However, younger people will find these things to be quite strange and confusing. In sending email to anyone 25 and younger, I'd recommend being extremely curt and you might even be pushing the envelope by using punctuation." - The Raven

"It's not necessary to include salutations when you have ongoing communications with someone. In fact I think it can get a little old." - Nades

I am a greetings and salutations kind-of-guy when I write anything, including email. From a business perspective, I think it's extremely important to connect with your clients (and potential clients) as much as possible. A professional greeting and close can go a long ways toward establishing a solid business relationship.

What do you think?

[Michael]

For me, it depends on who I'm writing to. Even on facebook, if I'm messaging a friend I'll start the message with "Hi," and a line break. I never use emoticons, sentence fragments, or slang in client emails, it strikes me as very unprofessional. For first contact in professional communication, I usually start with "Dear Mr. X," and a line break. It does get confusing, though, when they reply with an email beginning with "Michael:" I never know if I should respond to that with an email also greeting them by first name, especially if they are much older than me. I think its a grey area, and just comes down to what the client or recipient is expecting.

[Taallyn]

To me it depends on the purpose of the email and who is the recipient. For example, I usually don't lead of with a greeting if I am emailing my wife when she's at work. However, a cover letter to someone is more formal and I format it similar to a letter with a greeting an ending salutation.

Basically it comes down to whether or not the communication is conversational or formal in intent and purpose.

[marcoattilio]

For me, it depends on who I'm writing to. Even on facebook, if I'm messaging a friend I'll start the message with "Hi," and a line break. I never use emoticons, sentence fragments, or slang in client emails, it strikes me as very unprofessional. For first contact in professional communication, I usually start with "Dear Mr. X," and a line break. It does get confusing, though, when they reply with an email beginning with "Michael:" I never know if I should respond to that with an email also greeting them by first name, especially if they are much older than me. I think its a grey area, and just comes down to what the client or recipient is expecting.

Hello my Friends!
Good answer Michael, I agree with your words.