as part of my quest to maximise my life's SNR, I've been thinking about email. I don't think any other form of textual communication has so much verbiage.

let's start with an example of a great email:

Subject: Re: Avia Wildflower Triathlons News
From: Joe
To: Dad
Cc: Ken, Milami, Scott

Oh, don't worry about the beer - that was more an offhand remark than
anything else. If y'all weren't planning to bring any, don't bring one
just on my account.

clean, simple, concise. what's missing? the signature.

the signature where people stuff their contact information, company banners, and all manner of other things that have nothing to do with the content of the message. some common features of a signature include:

do you really need to print this email?

it's great when, in the rare case you do print an email, this causes it to overflow to another page.
don't worry, I know how conservation works—you can do your part by practicing brevity instead of editorializing.

the confidentiality agreement

This message (including any attachments) is confidential and may be privileged. If you have received it by mistake please notify the sender by return e-mail and delete this message from your system. Any unauthorised use or dissemination of this message in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. Please note that e-mails are susceptible to change. COMPANY (including its group companies) shall not be liable for the improper or incomplete transmission of the information contained in this communication nor for any delay in its receipt or damage to your system. Company (or its group companies) does not guarantee that the integrity of this communication has been maintained nor that this communication is free of viruses, interceptions or interference.

these are unenforceable as legal contracts^{1, 2} and are frequently longer than the message itself. if you didn't mean to send me this message, that's your mistake³.

as a general rule, I expect that the contents of my email will someday be publicly accessible.
you should too—you might accidentally send that message to your boss⁴.

the quotation

quotations are neat, especially ones I've never seen before, but signatures are static—every email after that is pointless repetition.

the contact information

I already have your email address; unless I asked for your phone number I probably won't need it.

I also don't care how many job titles you have or how many web sites you run. it's an email, not a CV.

but what about

the name

if anything, the parting phrase and the name are the most redundant parts of the message. you don't have to send Peace In Christ⁵ to people you know on a pub crawling basis. I don't even Kindest Regards my coworkers. they're empty words, their repetition cheapening their meaning.

and I already know your name. it's up there beside "From:"

then why is this all so common?

all these practices are based on the assumption that email is more like mail than anything else, but you don't lick a stamp and put it on your email when you send it. you (probably) don't spend hours agonizing over your diction⁶. you don't have to get up from your seat to put your email in the mailbox. the rigmarole of sending a letter by mail is Herculean when compared to the dozen keystrokes it takes to send an email.

the delivery speed of email also lends itself to being casual. while writing this post tonight I've sent or received 7 emails with my father, and 7 with a friend. such a hasty communication speed is only hindered by formalities as it is enhanced by concision.

the quality and speed of email makes it more like long-form instant messaging than physical mail⁷.

so I don't even put my name on the email I send anymore.