What s in an Address?

There are two parts of your address. The first part (called your username) identifies you as an individual, and it is not uncommon to use your name or some variation of it. The second part (called the domain name) identifies the group of people that get their e-mail through the same provider. If you get e-mail through your job, the domain name is often the name of your employer with an extra suffix or two. If you get your e-mail through your ISP, your domain will be the name of the ISP followed by .com. The two parts are separated by the @ symbol which is known as "At." Suppose George Washington signed up with an ISP named "Provider." His address might be gwashington@provider.com. If you were speaking to George Washington and he told you his address, he would say, "E-mail me at gwashington AT provider DOT com."