What is an Email? – Advantages and Disadvantages of email

The full form of E-mail is Electronic Mail. Through email, different files and messages are exchanged through the internet. The message of the email is in different forms like graphics, text, video clips, or sound. E-mail is a very convenient way to send messages anywhere in the world in a very short time.

We can send messages through e-mail if we are sitting in a single room or all over the world. The same message can be sent to different people or a single person. Many websites or internet service providers provide e-mail facilities. Yahoo, Hotmail, and Gmail are some most popular examples of email-providing websites.

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Key Points

• Email is short for Electronic Mail and is used to exchange messages and files online.
• Emails can contain different message formats and can be sent anywhere in the world quickly and easily.
• Email programs or email clients are used to send and receive emails, and messages are transmitted through email servers.
• Emails can also contain attachments of various types and sizes.
• Every email account has a unique address consisting of a username and a DNS address.
• An email has many advantages, such as speed, low cost, global reach, and the ability to share various types of information and media.
• However, the email also has disadvantages, such as lack of privacy, spam or junk emails, difficulty expressing emotions, possible delays, communication problems, and the risk of spreading viruses.

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Working of Email

An email program is used to send emails. It is also used to create and receive an e-mail. It is also known as the email client. When the user sends an email message, the computer connects to an email server and transmits a copy of the message to that server.

A host computer on the Internet used to send and receive emails is known as an email server. The message is received by the email server, which then determines which email server should receive it. It establishes a connection with that server and sends another copy of the message.

Email Attachment

An email message can also contain an attachments option through which we can attach any file or image etc. Any type of file can be attached to emails such as documents, spreadsheets, audio, video, etc. E-mail attachment is supported by the internet protocol.

It stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension. Different websites provide different file sizes that can be attached to an email provides. Yahoo provides an attachment size of 10MB.

Email address.

Every email account has a unique address. The general format of an email address is as follows:

username@DNS Address

An email address has two parts

• Username

• DNS Address

These two parts are separated by the symbol @

Example

Sehrish@ hotmail.com

Sehrish is called user ID. It is used to sign into the email service. The “@” symbol is called a sign. It separates the user ID from the name of an email service provider.

hotmail.com

It indicates the DNS address

Advantages of email

• Through email, we can send messages fastly and timely.
• Sending messages through email is a  cheap and inexpensive method.
• People can share information.
• People can send and receive messages anywhere in the world.
• It is possible to send and receive email through mobile phones.
• Email provides us the facility to send pictures, sounds, and videos.
• Email message does not disturb the recipient. It is stored on a server and can be read at any time.

Disadvantages of Email.      

This article examines ways to manage email communication, including filtering out spam, organizing emails into folders, and automating responses to messages. These methods are necessary due to the large volume of emails received and the prevalence of unsolicited emails.^[1]

Some limitations of email are as follows:

1. Lack of Privacy

Email doesn’t offer a lot of privacy. Through several networks, an email travels from one computer system to another. Email content can be seen by a hacker or the system administrator of a network.

2. Junk Email

Junk email is an unwanted email by an unknown sender. It is called spam. It is possible to send emails that the recipient will not want to read. A large number of junk emails may fill the space of the email account.

3. No Emotions

Emotions cannot be well enough expressed in an email. The recipient cannot see the sender’s voice and emotions.

4. Possible Delay

When a user accesses the Internet and checks their email, they read their email. An urgent message can be missed or postponed if someone doesn’t check his email account properly.

5. Communications Problems

Email cannot be sent due to some communication errors.

6. Spreading of Virus

As we know most viruses are spread through email messages. If someone sends a message containing a virus when the receiver opens the message virus automatically transfers to the receiver’s device.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)