Often enough we are faced with a question that can best be answered by someone else, possibly a complete stranger. The upside of the Internet is that we can quickly contact folks without much effort. The downside of the Internet is that people can contact us without much effort. This reality is very present in academe today — where senior professors constantly gripe about being overwhelmed by inappropriate e-mail, to the point where some hide their e-mail addresses. Graduate students and researchers of all kinds, meanwhile, agonize over how to approach an eminent scholar with a query, and trade strategies for actually getting an answer.
Given people’s limited amount of time, how can we ensure that our inquiring e-mail is not simply relegated to the recipient’s trash folder? It is important to recognize that those possessing information of interest to us will be the types of people who are valuable sources of knowledge for others as well. As someone who is often on the receiving end of such messages, I have developed a good sense for what factors can maximize the chance of a helpful response. Of course, individual cases will differ, but putting some thought into the mode of communication can yield valuable outcomes.
By Eszter Hargittai, assistant professor in the Departments of Communication Studies and Sociology at Northwestern University
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