Serious point, from a historian of letter writing... we are in a time of flux in communication forms and formulae. A short https://twitter.com/ProfessorCrunk/status/1349012729936412676

One key issue is we are all texting, tweeting, FB-ing, and emailing from phones. Norms are flowing between these forms.

Consequently, the norms of each of these modes, and the habits of brevity and familiarity conferred by and encouraged phone use & social media in general, are spreading rapidly between formats.

At the same time, communication depends on alignment between sender/recipient expectations. So if you are *reading* an email on your PC, like it's a Word doc, and are trained to expect formality, you have different expectations of & engagement with the email text from

somebody writing or reading email on a phone screen, especially when they lack training in the distinction between modes, and are unaware of the premium set on these norms by recipients.

Furthermore, none of the formats we apply to communication is "natural". They are all learned cultural forms. Did your students learn them? Yay. Didn't get the chance? Could be lots of reasons for that.

In the middle ages, the norms of letter writing were so important as signals of prestige that mastering them gave 'middling' men access to the halls of power as clerks and counsellors. And *not* knowing them was a sign of exclusion from elite circles.

There are documented occasions when medieval elites simply refused to accept letters that addressed them with what they felt was inadequate dignity, and other instances when they even wrote back to complain... This should sound familiar.

In other words, mastery of certain forms of communication has long been a gate-keeping stage in access to power. Those of use who made it as far as academic jobs usually did so because we passed through this gate, by effort, sure, but often mainly by luck & preexisting privilege.

I would therefore advocate:
-never assume all your students have access to privileged knowledge about effective communication
-politely and clearly explain the expectations
-also explain the stakes of displaying this knowledge in the world (e.g. access to power)

and then...

if you are in a position to do so...
-work to make this less of a gate-keeper in the world by worrying less about it yourself, and calling out others who use it to police privilege.*

*race, class & gender may limit your capacity to do so & whether it is 'your job' to do so.

Anyway, if you got this far and are interested in my take on medieval letters and political language, you might like my book, which is coming out on Friday! https://boydellandbrewer.com/the-letters-of-edward-i.html