IT Tip of the Month – Avoid Potentially Embarrassing E-Mail Addresses

The structure of e-mail addresses is not something you’ll often think about. There are various formats a standard e-mail address can take, including

First Name @ companyname.com – (i.e. lee@bits-solutions.co.uk)
First Name. Second Name@ - (i.e. lee.edge@bits-solutions.co.uk)
First Initial. Second Name@ (i.e. l.edge@bits-solutions.co.uk)
First Initial Second Name (all one word)@ - (i.e. ledge@bits-solutions.co.uk)

Now, as you can see, the latter two formats make it look like the e-mail is being sent by someone called ‘Ledge’. That’s a little bit confusing, but nothing bad.

We bring this up because recently we were in correspondence with a man called Frank King (not their real name), and his company chose the third type of e-mail address listed above, so his e-mail address read as ‘F.king@’. While this might raise a smile in some people, it could also offend others.

Our advice is to ensure the structure of your e-mail addresses do not allow for confusion or potential offence.

Then again, some companies might not mind. All you have to do is Google the term ‘The Best Pens on the Internet’ and find a company that clearly doesn’t care about that sort of thing!