How often do you check your email? Are they the bane of your life or can you not live without them? And what does your attitude to emails say about your personality?
The use of email in business and our everyday lives has increased resulting in the development of particular idiosyncratic patterns of emailing behavior that can either delight or enrage recipients. Researchers at the University of Glasgow and the University of the West of Scotland have examined our different email behaviours and matched them to typical bird-like personalities.
Dr Karen Renaud, senior lecturer in the School of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow, said:
“When we analysed all the findings we realised we could categorise email behaviours and match them to the characteristics of some well-known birds.”
The researchers identified a total of 12 bird-like characteristics of email users, with just one type of bird being associated with perfect email manners: the robin. Robins are people who are admired for not allowing email to dictate their lives and making time to speak to people in person whenever they can.
Dr Renaud added: “What the research really highlights is that email is a great source of stress for many people. Too often, email is used instead of a more suitable means of communication like actually talking to someone.
“It is likely most people will be able to identify some of their email correspondents with these behaviours and perhaps even recognise their own email style.
What type of Bird are you?
Compulsive Woodpecker: Can’t resist reading email at all hours of the day and night.
Hibernating Poorwill: Reads email only occasionally so that senders can never rely on them.
Incommunicado Ostrich: Reads emails but doesn’t reply to them. Often to be seen with the Hibernating Poorwill.
Caterwauling Peacock: Broadcasts emails to all and sundry, claiming that people “need to know” when actually he is grandstanding.
Pesky Crow: “Leans” on others by means of email, sending multiple versions of the same document, or sending multiple emails about the same topic. This bird inspires fear and loathing in the hearts of other birds.
Buck-Passing Cuckoo: Sends emails to others asking them to carry out some task she should do herself, and then leaves quickly and mimics the Incommunicado Ostrich so that the unfortunate recipient is left carrying the baby.
Echoing Mynah: Acknowledges all emails. For example engages in exchange something like: “thanks”, then “my pleasure”, then “thanks again”.
Echolalia Mockingbird: A serial forwarder, sending chain emails online petitions and anything else that takes his fancy. Most of these emails have a subject line starting with “FW”. This bird is easily ignored by other birds, but doesn’t know why.Boorish Parrot: Sends abusive or inappropriate emails and fails to understand why others get upset by them.
Night Owl: The midnight emailer, who fails to understand that others do wish to have “time out”. This bird flocks with the Lightning Response Hummingbird.
Hoarding Magpie: Keeps hundreds of emails in the inbox but can never find exactly the one they are looking for.
Lightning-Response Hummingbird: Responds immediately to email, and expects an immediate response in return.
Popular Robin: Simply does not allow email to dictate. They take the time to speak to people whenever possible and do not let email to take over their lives. This bird is the, favourite amongst all the birds.
Can you spot yourself in the 12 bird types above or perhaps you can identify a certain colleague. Let us know what type you are in the comments section below.
