Another reason why email gets you in trouble

Over the last ten or so years, my love for email has gone from intrigue to infatuation to inconvenience and now it borders on disdain. Don't get me wrong, email serves its purposes, but more and more the ease of email simply leaves the door open for misinterpretion and confusion. I can only speculate as to how many emails, even written in good faith, contain such ambiguous language that reasonable minds may differ as to what the writer meant. Either way, email can get people in a lot of trouble.

Take this recent example from a college admissions office posted this afternoon on CNN.com: UNC Congratulates 2,700 Prospective Freshman in Error. Now, maybe these people have already been "unofficially" accepted by their various committee, but if not, I think it's safe to say this mistaken offer could cause prospective students some doubts. It's easy enough to unring this bell, but see how email can get someone in a lot of trouble?