Forwarded Emails
Certain members of my family and friends are constantly forwarding me stuff. WHY do they do this? I have to say, I HATE it. I don’t read it, I delete it immediately.
Yes, I have asked them to stop. So have others…but they are addicted. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was all in good fun, but there are other things involved. Not only some basic “netiquette” but some spam prevention and corporate image protection! Yes, it’s true! Read on for more:
If you MUST forward emails (and I really don’t think you MUST.. is someone holding a gun to your head FORCING you to do it?!?):
- Please delete ALL previous email addresses, information and comments when forwarding email.
- When emailing more than one person, keep email addresses private by using the BCC (”blind carbon copy”) feature of your email program. If you need others to know who you sent it to, type CC and a list of names at the bottom of your email to keep addresses private.
Not only is this polite (conversely, not doing so is RUDE), but it could prevent some bad things from happening:
1. If anyone’s email is a work address, the company name or the recipient’s professional name could be associated with the dirty joke or political bent or whatever is the content of the email. Remember, we have trusted YOU with our private email address, not your friends. Would you want to risk your friend’s business reputation?
2. Every forwarded email is a spam harvester’s bonanza of valid email addresses. Many email services automatically add names to your address book.. including spammers. Just hitting “forward to address book” can include a spammer. Even if your email program does not do this, or you only forwarded the email to certain people, THEY might “forward to address book.” Remember, we have trusted YOU with our private email address, not your friends.
(Yes that was worth bolding twice. There are close family members who I have only given the email address I use for websites/newsletters/junk because they can’t be trusted with a private one.)
3. NEVER forward any of those “scare” emails.. the ones saying “there’s a virus going around and here’s how to get rid of it…” or “eating cheese causes death…” or whatever current scare is going around. NEVER do anything to your computer that you are told to do in an email.
Check out the following articles:
E-mail Security Tip: Forward Responsibly
Note in that last article the first section is “Willing to receive:” : Make sure your recipient WANTS your forwarded emails.
If someone asks you not to be included on your forward or mailing list, please don’t be offended. This doesn’t mean we don’t want to hear from YOU, it means we don’t want any more JUNK. Surely, you can drop us a line and let us know what’s going on in your life without including jokes, videos, scare mail, etc., can’t you? You can’t say that you think we’ll be interested in those if we specifically ask you not to send them.
HERE ARE MY PREFERENCES:
For the record, I DO NOT WANT any forwarded emails or articles. I do not want any videos, or .pdf or any kinds of files in my inbox unless we have agreed in advance. If you think there is something I would be interested in, send me a LINK to where I can find it online…. and JUST me. Yes, I’m talking to YOU.
DO NOT put my email address in ANY forwarded emails. I don’t care if it’s all family or all people YOU know, THEY may not know not to forward my address anywhere.
DO NOT ASSUME that I agree with your political or religious views and that it’s okay to send me stuff in this regard. I do not want it. These are deleted immediately. Nothing that comes to me in an email is going to change my mind, for one thing. And for another, I don’t like being “grouped” with the rest of your cronies.
I delete anything with videos or other files attached. Don’t even bother to send them. There are tons of services to which you can upload video, .pdf or other files. Upload them and send a LINK. (but first check around.. I have not received one forwarded video or .pdf that I didn’t also find already up on YouTube, google, or some other website.) Recieving these files in my inbox (and waiting for them to upload to my computer) irritates me and puts you on my !@#$ list for the day.
I love getting emails that are actual communication from friends and family. When folks send me links and images related to a conversation we’ve been having (either in real life, on a forum or blog, or through the email), I am thrilled. But when the conversation is over, I DO NOT WANT TO BE ON YOUR MAILING LIST.
What are your preferences? Are you a constant forwarder? Are people still keeping you on their forward list?
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I am glad that I am no the only one bothered by the constant stream of these. I too especially hate the ones that are forwarded to soooooooo many people with my address included! Jeesh. I sure hope I have never accidentally done that. I rarely forward anything, and wish others would be a little more selective. Some very good information in this article. Thank you.