Do You Send Emails with Blank Subject Fields?

Always use a subject field to not be spammy.

We all agree we are sick and tired of spam, right? But even with the most excellent spam filters, we still have to review our spam/junk folders to find legitimate messages that get caught in the spam trap.

Once daily, I go through my spam folder, mark spam as junk, and move the others to their appropriate folder. If I don’t have the discipline to do this daily, the volume builds and becomes unmanageable. In addition, I risk deleting legit emails that got caught in spam filters if I delete all junk at once.

I admit I open some spammy emails because curiosity gets the best of me. Just to see what they are up to. And I can see why some folks fall for these tricks and scams. However, some of these emails look legit and are great at spoofing companies we all do business with.

Check out my article, Simple Tips on How to Deal with Spam.

No Subject = Spammer

I usually do not open emails with a blank Subject line unless I immediately recognize the sender. This is because most non-subject emails are spam.

Not having a Subject makes you look spammy, and your email will generally end up in the junk folder, misidentified as spam. Don’t expect recipients to have time to open subjectless emails to double-check.

Opening the email itself is not risky. The risk is clicking on any attachments or links within—don’t do it.

Recently, several subject-less emails arrived in my spam folder. When I kindly let those who sent me the emails know that they should always use a Subject so they don’t look spammy, two of the three didn’t appreciate my advice.

One stated:

If you were up as late as me, you would be too tired to think of a subject, either.
No Netiquette Contact

If you are that tired, go to bed and email folks in the morning. Otherwise, you risk spam filters sending your email (to me or anyone else) to spam or junk folders without being read.

The other one gave me a hard time and said I was “too into Netiquette.” Hmmm… too late. I’m a member of Netiquette Anonymous, a group of folks who want to help everyone be aware of how their use of technology can help or hinder them. I can’t help myself! (There is no NA—just kidding. But I do admit I am into Netiquette.)

The third was very friendly and thanked me because they didn’t know that omitting a Subject line could mean their email wouldn’t be read. So one out of three ain’t bad.