We all have this reflex of typing in an address, writing two lines hastily, and clicking “send” without asking too many questions. Because, deep down, it’s become commonplace. Yet, messaging apps, with their neatly arranged buttons and hidden options, rarely give us a hand in really understanding what we’re doing. You think you’re sending a peaceful message, but without realizing it, you may have put your boss, your ex, and your annoying colleague all in the same loop. And that’s the kind of thing that no one explains to you.
Emails are like work texts: one misstep, one misplaced word, or one recipient too many can ruin a team atmosphere or just make you look like someone who doesn't know anything. The worst part is that most mistakes come from details that apps leave unsaid. You open your inbox, you see the "To," "CC," and "BCC" fields, but not a single line to explain what they're really for. You think you know, until the day you accidentally copy your entire address book onto an email that was supposed to remain confidential.
The shortcuts we take without thinking
We've become experts at speed. A "reply all" here, and it's sent. But by rushing through things, we forget that a message requires a minimum of thought. Especially when several people are involved. Sending an email to your team, your partners, or a client is not the same. And yet, we treat everything the same way. That's where the problems begin.
You send out a customer follow-up email and you want your colleague to follow up without intervening. You put him in visible copy. Except that in reality, this colleague replies to everyone, thinking he's doing the right thing, and boom, you've opened the door to a cheap discussion that should never have existed. Or worse yet, you forget to hide sensitive addresses and everyone ends up with a complete file of contacts they should never have seen.
Here we touch on something fundamental and yet never clearly explained, like the famous difference between cc and bcc, which we think we understand but rarely fully master. And the apps in all this? They leave you guessing. As if everyone was supposed to leave school knowing how to manage clean and effective digital communication.
It's all about intention (and discretion)
CCing (carbon copying) is a bit like sending a text to your friend and putting your other friend on a loop so they can follow the story without necessarily responding. They see everything, they can react, but normally they remain discreet. It's useful, but you have to do it in moderation. Too many CCs, and it becomes a cacophony. Everyone wants to comment, give their opinion, get involved. And in the end, you've lost track of your original message.
Blind carbon copy (BCC) is more insidious. You put someone in the loop, but no one knows they're there. It's like giving them a headset to listen in on a conversation in secret. It's useful when you need someone to monitor without anyone else knowing. Like your manager or a colleague who just needs to keep an eye on things. But it's also a double-edged sword. If used incorrectly, it can create distrust or misunderstandings.
What messaging apps will never tell you is that these tools aren't just technical options, they're signals. The choice to CC or BCC is a message in itself. You show or hide. You include or exclude. And you have to understand that to avoid any mishaps. And more than anything, it forces you to think for two seconds about who should see what, because once it's sent, there's no going back.
You learn more on the job than in tutorials.
The truth is, everyone learns by making mistakes. You learn how to manage a mailing list after forgetting to use BCC for a mass mailing. You understand the impact of a "reply all" once the boss reads a comment that wasn't meant for them. That's just how it is. And since apps just give you the buttons without explaining their use, well, you do what you can.
And it's the same with automatic signatures, attachments we forget, those we send at midnight without thinking about their impact. There's no universal manual for this. These are little rules that we pick up with experience. The problem is that some mistakes are unforgivable. And sometimes, they stay with you for a long time. You can pretend it was an oversight, one click too many, or inattention, but the image you project remains.
Email is more than a message, it's an image
What people rarely realize is that their messages say as much about them as how they speak in meetings or dress for a date. A well-constructed, clear message that respects the recipients leaves a strong impression. Conversely, an email sent haphazardly, with typos, people in CC who shouldn't be there, or a forgotten attachment, gives an impression of carelessness, even if that's not the case.
Don't think apps are going to teach you this. They're there to teach you, not to teach you how to do it properly. So it's up to each of us to take the time, to think a little before pressing the button. And above all, to stop thinking it's just an email. Because often, it's much more than that. And if you still doubt it, reread your last email, look at who you put in it, and ask yourself if you couldn't have done better.
