… without pissing people off.
I’m sure all of you have at least one family member or friend who forwards every cute little joke, kitten email, or conspiracy theory to you on a regular basis. This is something you can send to them to help them understand the proper way to forward junk mail. Feel free to copy/paste, and make any changes you feel are necessary.
__________________________________________________________
So you want to forward an email to all of your friends? There is a right way and a wrong way to do this. Let’s go over the basics.
- Type all of the addresses into the BCC field. This is the Blind Carbon Copy option. This will allow you to send it to everyone you know, but still allow you to keep their email addresses private. Type your own email address in the TO field. Do not type everyone’s addresses into the TO or the CC fields. This exposes everyone’s email address to possible viruses on other people’s computers. It’s bad manners. Please avoid doing this.
- Edit out all of the >>>>> and the extra email addresses. This will make the email more readable, and will (again) keep everyone’s emails private. If you don’t know how to do this, ask. Someone will show you how.
- Take the time to check Snopes.com and make sure the email is accurate and not a hoax. Do not assume the email is correct if it says “I checked this on Snopes.com and it’s TRUE”. Check for yourself. Seriously. If Snopes debunks it, don’t send it.
- Do not assume everyone who is receiving the email has the same political/religious beliefs that you do. If you’re not sure, don’t send it.
- Chain letters or letters that beg you to send them to everyone you know are spam. Nobody wants them. Nobody. Ever. No, Bill Gates is not going to start charging you 10 cents per email if you don’t forward that chain letter immediately. I promise.
- Take the time to put something personal in the email. If you can’t be bothered to write one sentence explaining why you’re sending something, it’s probably not worth sending.
- Be selective. Don’t forward everything, and don’t send every forward to everyone in your address book.
Right way:
The wrong way:
Notice I have edited the email addresses in this photo for privacy. The best way to respect everyone’s privacy is to remove these email addresses before you forward them.
Thanks for listening, and please take the time to clean up your forwards… the internet will thank you!
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I’ve puzzled over how to get the message across to people about bcc’s and forwarding and managed to insult a few by suggesting that they do other than what they’re doing. Yours is a thorough discussion but I can see some of my friends rolling their eyes, TMI. Last night my cousin (who always follows good forwarding etiquette — and I may have taught her that) included at the end of a long and beautiful photo sequence this paragraph, which I think is a fabulous reminder:
“If you forward this email please delete the forwarding history, all email addresses which includes mine. It is a courtesy to others who may not wish to have their email addresses sent all over the world! Erasing the history helps prevent Spammers from mining addresses and protects against viruses.”
(Only it was in a lovely font, Monotype Corsive 13.5.)
That’s lovely! I’ll add that next time I forward, it’s straightforward and to the point.
My problem is that I’m so used to tutoring people, I get too in-depth. :D