Comments on: How to Forward E-mail Responsibly

on 3/13/2008 This is one of the most popular ways used by spammers to "troll" (fishing) the internet for email addresses. Every time you forward one of these messages, you are giving all your contact's addresses to a spammer list.

on 3/13/2008 This is one of the most popular ways used by spammers to "troll" (fishing) the internet for email address. Every time you forward one of these messages, you are giving all your contact's addresses to a spammer list.

on 6/30/2006 E-mail messages containing dire warnings of bad luck, which are forwarded numerous times, are nothing more than electronic chain letters. Do the ones you love, your dear friends and family, a huge favor and don't bother them with these time-consuming, virus-laden missives. Dismiss them if any come your way and educate your tormentor about the ills of sending personal spam.

on 11/22/2005 It's also courteous to use the nifty Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) option when sending out forwards. You can just put your own email in the "To" field, and then put everyone else's emails in the "BCC" field. That way, the email addresses are not shown on the actual forward itself, helping to protect the privacy of your friends' email boxes. It is also rumored (rumor to me, because I haven't had anyone verify this) that when forwarding emails, companies are allowed to buy out the email addresses that show on that list and then they can send those individuals junk mail. By BCCing the forwards, there are no addresses for those companies to see or buy out. That's what I hear. If it's true or not, I don't know. But either way, it doesn't hurt to BCC anyway, just out of courtesy.

on 7/5/2007 Remove all previous recipients from messages before forwarding.

on 11/22/2005 Threatening e-mail recipients with bad luck if they don't pass an e-mail on is extremely offensive. E-mail messages that state that the recipient is not a "true friend" if they don't send it back to the sender are inconsiderate.