In homes, wallpaper is the paper covering the walls of a room, hallway, or staircase. It is often colored and textured, and it gives a certain feeling to the space, a feeling of comfort, elegance, the outdoors, etc.
In email, wallpaper is a colored, textured background. It gives a feeling of–of driving me nuts!
I hate email wallpaper.
I hate it because when I reply, it forces my message onto the same wallpaper surface, and it often distorts the look of my message. Sometimes wallpaper changes my black font to yellow. It changes the transparent background of my logo to solid white against the color of the wallpaper. Sometimes it even changes my Arial or Calibri typeface into something else.
It papers over my message with someone else's idea of a pleasing décor. Not fair!
In a business writing class last week, participants told me another reason they hate wallpaper: On a smart phone, it appears as an attachment, and they waste time opening it.
There is no good reason to use wallpaper in business email. Strip it off!
Do you agree? If so, please spread the word. If not, please share your reasoning.
Lynn
Syntax Training
