Politics, Forwards and Reply to All Do Not Mix

Political “discussions” are polarized. Unless the venue is known as one where open-minded adults can discuss topics, everyone is just shouting at each other. I don’t know about you, but it seems that things are getting nastier. And more visceral online with each passing day.

Which is a shame. I remember back in the day when, regardless of the topic, informative and thought-provoking discussions were held. I guess having an open mind was more prevalent in the past.

Because of this, I increasingly receive requests about how to handle certain situations involving political emails. Mostly from folks who do not want relationships or friendships marred by someone they know pushing their opinions in a way that delegitimizes those with opposing views.

How to Handle Political Forwards and Replies

You receive a forwarded email about a political issue, which has also been forwarded to a bunch of other people. Some who you do not know.

Is it proper for you to share your contrary opinion and hit the “Reply to All” button? After all, it was sent to you, which one could assume the Sender was initiating a discussion and open to your opinion.

I recommend you proceed as though that is not the case. You don’t know some of these folks, and they don’t know you. You know what happens when you assume?

Just reply to the Sender that you know. If you don’t know the Sender, consider it spam and hit delete. Don’t waste your time replying or trying to change minds via email with strangers.

Political Discussions Via Email

When it comes to politics, most are just interested in making their opinion known. From what I see, they do not care to know or even discuss contrary opinions.

One concerned Netizen worried that if they did not Reply to All, the other recipients listed would believe, albeit incorrectly, that they favored the expressed opinion. Here again, I don’t believe you can change anyone’s opinion via an email thread. Nor should you care what others think who you’ve not directly communicated with.

Especially if the original Sender was clearly steadfast in their point of view. So, I wouldn’t worry what other recipients, especially those that do not know you, will think.

Silence does not necessarily mean agreement when it comes to these types of emails. There are many online, myself included, who ignore these forwards because of the potential problems replying can cause even with those you do know.

Displaying Email Addresses to Strangers

If you are asking yourself these questions, the Sender made two mistakes that we discuss regularly. One, forwarding political commentary is risky business because not everyone will agree with you.

Secondly, if everyone’s email address is visible in the To: or Cc: fields, the original Sender reflects a lack of respect for their contact’s privacy by exposing their email addresses to strangers. Especially strangers who may be diametrically opposed in their opinions. They should have used the BCc: field.

Because the Sender displayed a blatant disregard for everyone’s privacy does not mean you should email those you do not know with your opinion. You know, that old saying “two wrongs don’t make a right” thing? No matter how important you feel your opinion is. Don’t do it. You are better than that.

The proper approach is to email the Sender your opinion only if you must. Even if that means you have to manually remove addresses from the To: field. Depending on the relationship, you could also include a brief note that you would appreciate it if your email address were not exposed to strangers in the future.

Knowledge is Power

Way back when, there were email lists where these types of discussions could be held based on facts and a sincere quest for knowledge. All involved had open minds, respected others’ opinions, and would welcome additional information that could, in fact, alter their perceptions or points of view. Rare are the places where you can do this online in the year 2024.

In the case of forwarding political commentary, email etiquette dilemmas arise from those who do not realize the consequences of their actions. When this happens, consider pointing the Sender to this site so they can, at the very least, learn about how to avoid breaching their contact’s privacy moving forward.

Knowledge is power after all. At least to some…