“The world if people treated each other like they do by email”: Email etiquette meme takes over the internet

SINGAPORE: A meme portraying email etiquette and its stark contrast with the real world has taken over the internet, getting a laugh out of many online users.

After a Facebook page called The Philosopher’s Shirt shared a meme referring to how polite people usually sound in email as opposed to in real life, many took to the comments section of the post to join in the laughter.

“The world if people treated each other like they do by email,” the meme read. The picture had a very utopia-like feel to it, depicting smiling people among nature and animals. On the left side of the photo, a man is seen holding a koala and her baby, and two children happily petting them. On the right side is a tiger sitting comfortably by a woman who happily has her hand on its head. In the back, is a couple, mesmerised by a bird flying in the air not so far above them.

The depiction was familiar to a number of netizens, with many of them referring to religious materials they were given as children. “This is a Jehovah’s Witness illustration from an older publication and it’s portraying paradise on earth that the Bible promises will be a reality in the near future,” one said.

“This is from the Watchtowers from Jehovah’s Witnesses,” wrote another. “Anyways, this was used to depict Paradise after Jehovah (comes) back to cleanse the earth. I enjoyed reading them.”

Many others contrasted the seemingly inherently polite nature of emails with what people actually want to say in real life. A handful noted that the politeness is actually passive-aggression. “Well…emails often show passive aggressiveness!” wrote one.

Another pointed out, “I don’t know whose emails they were reading, but it would be a passive-aggressive dystopia.”

“Nah, mine would be filled with passive aggression and bombastic side eyes,” said a third.

A fourth wrote, “Clearly you haven’t worked in an extremely toxic environment.”

Other netizens made spin-offs of the meme, using different aspects of social media to imagine what the world would be like if people treated each other the same way they do in a place like Facebook marketplace, for example.

“The world if they treated each other like they treat tech support on the phone,” wrote one, attaching an image of a dark world seemingly on fire.