Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

Can you believe that some people send out press releases with the headline in the subject line written in caps? It’s not that widespread a phenomenon as far as I’m aware, I’ve only been at the receiving end of a few such releases. In my opinion, nothing shows up a lack of Internet etiquette more than this schoolboy error.

I don’t care what people say about trying to grab the attention of journalists. All I know is that if you go onto any forum and START TYPING IN CAPS you won’t last very long. It’s annoying to read, so why would you post someone an email with a headline like that? It shows a complete lack of understanding of the medium of email and the Internet, and I doubt if I’m the only person that would ignore any such emails.

Before anyone attempts a comeback, all I have to say is if you think putting the headline in caps is more attention grabbing, then why don’t you write it in mobile speak. I can see it now, “AIB 2 announce new savings r8 l8r 2day” or “Ryanair offer xlnt deals 4 online customers”. <sarcasm>Journalists will thank you for making their lives so much easier</sarcasm>

If you really want to make it obvious that your email is a press release and not spam, then why not make it obvious by putting ‘PR:’ in the subject line like Tom Murphy suggests.