Email Etiquette

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Irresponsible Forwarders Exposed!

Do you know an irresponsible forwarder or two, or three or five? Every so often they receive a nifty email that cracks them up, has quasi-valuable information or worse yet is a hoax or contains controversial commentary that they then are possessed with the need to "forward to all your friends."

That's fine if done properly and if you know for a fact the recipients don't mind you doing so. However, as of late there is an increasing number of irresponsible forwarders who in forwarding to all they know, make the heinous error of having all their friend's email addresses visibility displayed in the To: or Cc: field. Without thinking, they have just exposed all their friend's addresses to total strangers!

What the majority fail to realize is that the only thing that list of contacts has in common is the Sender; otherwise all those listed are many times perfect strangers. Then to rub salt into the wound, these irresponsible forwarders perpetrate the breech of privacy created by the irresponsible forwarders before them by not removing the email address of onliners they don't know from the body of the email before they forward it again. They then unnecessarily expose these addresses further!

SIDE BAR: If breaching your contact's privacy isn't bad enough, these irresponsible forwarders are not thinking twice about perpetrating bogus information. They do not take the time to verify these forwards before they begin to forward something simply because the email says to do so. It is every onliner's responsibility to make sure that the emails they forward are not hoaxes so that they do not perpetuate passing on misinformation to those they know. Because those before you didn't make this effort, does not take you off the hook!

All one has to do is simply go to Snopes.com or TruthOrFiction.com and search for the email in question to confirm if it is an urban legend or hoax before you hit that forward button. You are personally responsible for each email you send just as you will be responsible when it is discovered you are forwarding erroneous information as if it were true.

Before you forward any previously forwarded email, you need to also take the time to remove/edit any email addresses of those you don't know before you forward the message along. Look in the body of the message for the forwards that contain addresses and remove those addresses from your forward! Just because the person who forwarded to you was indiscreet and did not respect other's privacy does not mean you behave in the same manner. If you cannot take a moment to remove the visible email addresses in the body of a message before forwarding it on, then you should not forward at all!

As if this perpetual breech of privacy doesn't warrant a good spanking for all involved, what then happens is those onliners who have nothing in common but the Sender are then under the assumption that they can hit Reply to All: and send their opinions to everyone on the list. Worse yet, they add those addresses to their business lists and spam these folks about stuff they didn't ask for! Many incorrectly presuming that it is O.K. to do so because those addresses are right there for the replying. Wrong!

What then ensues is the Forwarder, who made the initial breech of privacy by not using the BCc: field to contain all their contact's addresses, actually has the nerve to get upset. They scold their friend who hit Reply to All: telling them they had "no right" to email *their* friends. Too funny! The Sender exposes their friend's email addresses to people they don't know and then has the audacity to get irritated when those addresses are actually used. The initial fault lies with the Sender who could have easily avoided all of this by dutifully listing those email addresses in the BCc: field.

There is an easy solution to this dilemma. First verify anything you forward as true and accurate before doing so. Every time one feels the desire to "forward to all your friends" -- respect your friend's privacy by putting all email address in the BCc: field or be prepared to face the music. And, if you have "friends" that expose your email address in this manner to onliners you don't know; let them know in no uncertain terms that you don't appreciate their indiscretion.

Lastly, if you know a Sender who doesn't respect their contact's privacy by using the BCc: field, that does not give you permission to Reply to All: and send your most likely unwanted commentary to strangers. Be smarter and more courteous than that and reply to the Sender alone. Let the Sender know your opinions about the subject matter of the forward as well as the fact that their apparent disregard for your privacy and forwarding of inaccurate information is not appreciated.

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