When e-mail first came into general use about twenty years ago, there was a lot of talk about the arrival of the paperless office. However, it seems that e-mail has yet to revolutionize office communication. According to communications analyst Richard Metcalf, some offices have actually seen an increase in paper as a result of e-mail. “Information in the form of e-mail messages now floods our computer screens. These messages can be sent so quickly that memos tend to be distributed in the hundreds. For those secretaries whose bosses ask them to print out all their e-mails and leave them in their in-trays, this means using up a great deal of paper every month,” Metcalf says.
Metcalf has found that because some e-mails get lost in cyberspace, important documents are increasingly likely to be asked by clients and colleagues to send all important documents both by e-mail and by fax. This highlights a further potential problem with e-mail in today’s offices ─it is taking up time rather than saving it. “With e-mail, communication is much easier, but there is also more room for misunderstandings,” says psychologist Dr David Lewis. Generally, much less care is taken with e-mails than with letters or faxes and the sender will probably print the document and reread it before putting it in an envelope or sending it by fax.
More worrying is still the increasing misuse of e-mail for sending “flame-mail” ─inappropriate e-mail messages. Recent research in several companies suggests that aggressive communications like this are on the increase. E-mail has become the perfect medium for conveying workplace dissatisfaction because it is so instant.
E-mail can also be a problem in other ways. Staffs all too often make the mistake of thinking that the contents of the e-mail, like things said over the phone, are private and not permanent. But it is not only possible for an employer to read all your e-mails, it is also perfectly legal. E-mail messages can be traced back to their origin for a period of at least two years, so you might want to rethink e-mailing your dissatisfaction about your boss to your friends. The advice is to keep personal e-mails out of the office.
(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN 12 WORDS)
The promise of paperless office has not come true in many offices mainly because many  secretaries are asked to _____________.
Why has e-mailing taken up time rather than saved it?
There is an increasing concern that e-mails are misused by some employees to express  _____________.
It is advised that employees should not use company e-mails as a way of ___________.