Email Whitelist Etiquette

A big-time dilemma is brewing online. In an understandable attempt to bypass all that annoying spam, emails that onliners want to receive are getting lost in the shuffle. Newsletter subscription requests are not being completed and important emails are not getting to their intended parties. This is why I no longer send out my quarterly newsletter. For all the work that went into put my newsletter together, the hassle of it not getting through made the effort no longer productive.

Your "Whitelist" is the list that contains the email addresses of those you do in fact want to receive email from. Some services require the accepted addresses be in one’s address book to be added to the whitelist. While other software/services call this list the "approved" or "allowed senders" list and require you manually add those you want to accept email from to your list. Regardless of what this feature is called, it is clearly not being utilized correctly and in many cases, at all.

What can be done about this? A little user education and Email Whitelist Etiquette is in order!

• When signing up for an online newsletter, mailing list or Web site service, immediately add their email address or dot com to your approved or white list. This will ensure smooth communications with you and that emails will get through with the information you requested or confirmations necessary for you to acknowledge your request.
  • AOL: Place the domain name you just signed up for a service at in your address book.
  • HotMail: Place the domain name within your "safe list". You can locate your safe list by clicking on the "Options" link next to the Main Menu tabs.
  • Yahoo!: If the email you requested ends up being filtered into your "bulk" folder, all you have to do is open the email and click on the link next to the "From" field.
  • Other ISPs and Providers: To prevent desired emails from being sent to trash, try adding the email’s “From” and “Reply to” address to your address book.
• If you initiate the request, it is your responsibility to promptly add the other side’s email address or dot com information to your whitelist. This extra step will reflect that you are courteous and tech savvy! In addition, doing so will avoid those who you have requested information or services from, from having to follow verification email instructions just to get you the information you requested. Besides, you cannot count on everyone responding to those verification emails-many simply don’t or can’t (automated subscription systems).
• Before getting upset because you perceive someone didn’t respond, check to see if their email was inadvertently deleted or sent to your Trash or Junk folder. Then, upon finding these emails in your Trash or Junk folders, add their information to your whitelist straight away. Too many onliners become belligerent about a supposed lack of response when in fact a response was sent and because they didn’t clear the way for the email to be accepted it was diverted to trash or not allowed through.
• Web sites and newsletters should have a response or thank you page that clearly requests site visitors and subscribers to add the required email address to their whitelist right then and there. If onliners know the address to expect email from, it is much easier to expect that they will add that address to their whitelist and your email will get through.

It is important that every onliner make a conscious effort to become aware of the above issues and integrate these suggestions into their day-to-day activities. Doing so will contribute to an informed online community using email for the efficient and convenient communication tool it was meant to be.

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