Electronic Chain Letters and Mindless Forwards
are SPAM!!
Chain letters ask their recipients to spread e-mail by forwarding
them to as many
as possible. In chain letters and e-mails, there are stated "benefits" for forwarding
them, and there are often stated
consequences, as well, for NOT forwarding them.
Chain Letters and e-mails do not have to be get-rich or good luck schemes either.
They cover all kinds of topics. Never forward chain letters and forwarded
and
reforwarded e-mails with huge lists of cc's STILL in the message body
area!
(cc's are lists of user e-mails showing who the e-mail was forwarded to and
from)!!
Chain E-Mails in my view also include those messages opening with an enticement
containing positive topics, such as good things that happened, things that
teach
something, things that produce a benefit like money or luck, and things
involving
a web page that the sender liked, YET are FOLLOWED by a REQUEST to
Forward the message!!! For these type mails, I simply will NOT
participate !!
Mindless Forwards are those unlike chain
letters that demand multiple reforwarding.
These instead contain e-mail attachments that appear embedded with further
internal
attachments that have to be opened completely to read the actual
message!!
(I once got one with 6 attachments!) Another characteristic of Mindless
Forwards
are those containing huge lists of users (I call it the "cc" list)
above the message!
The senders of these do not bother to strip the "cc-lists" off before
forwarding!
My "take" on Chain E-Mails and those which I call
"Forwarded Forwards":
Follow the
Golden Rule!! Treat others as you would like to be treated -
with respect! Send something
beneficial, but PLEASE don't ask that it
be forwarded!! The decision to forward is
NOT the sender's!! Most people
appreciate a
personal e-mail meant just for them! Most busy people (like me,
can't you tell??) do not like to be recipients of
chain and mass-forwarded e-mails!!
A lot of them
have included layers of attachments filled with forwarding statements
that do not
even contain the message! This is the depths of poor Netiquette and
disrespect
by senders who, by the nature of their e-mails, force recipients to open a
stream
of cascaded e-mail attachments, just to access the message primarily
intended to
be read in the first place!
Blindly sending
on e-mails that have been heavily forwarded, and worse,
leaving the huge cc-list on the main text, is
infuriating and offensive!!
By "Following the leader" as a
"mindless forwarder", one may lose friends!
Be courteous to the citizens of cyberspace and they will welcome your e-mail!
On the other
hand, if one sends along chain and Mindlessly Forwarded e-mail,
one might end up being hated and ostracized; or, one's e-mail address might
get
blocked by those who don't want re-forwarded and/or chain-letter style
e-mails.
Nightscribe's Advice on forwarding e-mail is condensed to a few simple rules:
1. Strip
all forwarding cc lists out of the e-mail body. Good E-mail is
personal,
(uniquely sent to
one recipient) so why would one want to make it look like
the sender is
poking a head out of a noisy party and saying: "Come on in,
we're having a good
time!" I only want my recipients to read e-mail from
me, not sharing it
with a mob of "Forwarditis Victims" cc'd all over the e-mail!
2. If you
must "be efficient" by sending to your list all at once, then use the
blind
copy (bcc) method.
So the users don't see your e-mail list in the forwarded e-mail!
3. Personalize the message by preceding it with a short note on why it is sent.
The reader will
appreciate the message if he/she knows the sender cares by
selecting the message for
his/her own enjoyment and/or benefit!
4. NEVER
ask recipients to send it on (forward it). That starts the "Reforwarding
of forwards and the
chain mail cycle all over
again. There are a great deal of
people afflicted with the condition
I call "Forwarditis".
When an e-mail
requests the action to "pass it on", "send
it" or "forward it", I can almost
guarantee these people
thus afflicted, will
send the e-mail all
over the internet,
again slowing the
Net down all the more because of it.
5. Don't
forget to strip off the "Hotmail", "Yahoo" or "ICQ" ad footers often
found at the bottom of mass
forwards. Example forwarding footer ads:
"Get your FREE
E-Mail at
www.hotmail.com" Or:
"Do You
Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere!
http://mail.yahoo.com/"
YUKK!! Such ads are simply revolting, so get rid of
them when you forward an
e-mail sent to you with these included at the bottom!
6.
Remember, "epidemics" of re-forwarded e-mail are part of a game
one should
NOT want to be part of.
Simply delete all of these kinds of e-mails AND don't
forward them! "Re Forwarded
Forwarded" e-mails show evidence of having
been packed into a semi rig
dumpster carrier, and spewed into all the neighbors
yards!! All
who are connected to the internet are automatically included within
the growing huge
population called "the cyber community". So, don't litter
up cyberspace with
Chain Mail and Mindless Reforwarded Forwards!
7. Think it
over before forwarding Forwarded e-mail or Chain e-mails.
When in doubt, DON'T,
especially those including big "cc lists"!
8.
Another way to be sure it is OK to forward a mail, is send a preliminary
single line
personal e-mail, and ask the intended recipients (Including
friends!) if
they wouldn't mind getting forwarded e-mail. I think it is a
very
respectful thing to do, to ask first. If
the reply says "No
Way" or contains
another negative response, by ALL Means
do NOT follow-up
with forwarded
mail !!!!!!!!!!!! If
receiving yes answers, then it is likely there is still trust on the
part of the
intended recipients, so then forwarded mail is allowed to be sent.
However, I
strongly encourage the implementation of the courtesies outlined
above, BEFORE forwarding them; if
one simply "forwards the forward",
then I can assure
that the "electronic welcome mat" will soon be removed,
and the senders of
such mail may also become regarded with contempt, along
with those sending commercial SPAM
mail, HOAX Mail, Chain Mail, etc.
9.
Summary: Chain Mail stinks, especially Reforwarded e-mail with
attached
forwarding
messages, begging fthe reader for more forwarding to occur!!!
10.
Disclaimer: If on the other hand, there are buddies that love to exchange
chain letters and
forwarded reforwards, that is their option AND risk :)
Now that you have seen my comments and advice
on this topic, there are
some
solid web resources on Chain E-Mail and Forwards. Because I have
found
via search engines many "billions" of web pages on unsolicited
e-mail, chain
e-mails and e-mail forwarding, I have selected only sites that have
the most
relevance. Why would I want to waste your time, like I would if I forward the
forwarded e-mails??
OK- here are a few links, then two great quotes on the topic.
Go
to school on Chain Letters at Rutgers Web
EFF
Chain Letter Archive
Forwarding Hysteria
E-Mail Facts
of Life
How to Defeat a Chain
Letter
Anti-Chain
Letter on 7 Types of Chain Letters
Copy of an Anti-Chain
Mail "Chain Mail"
DOE on
Electronic Chain Mail
DOE Chain Mail
List of examples
A dissected Chain
Letter
IBM on Stopping Chain
Letters and Hoaxes
How to React to Chain
letters
Chain
Letter Protection Pact
Chain Letter Dilemna
One Small Effort to
Turn the Tide of CyberJunk
A QUOTE on Electronic Chain Mail by DOE ASSIST:
"ALWAYS consider any message that
recommends universal forwarding as suspect,
especially if it also includes a central target address. To our knowledge,
there has never been a
legitimate use of this type of communication (and it is illegal to do this
through the U.S. mail).
While you may have concerns that a needy charity may be losing some benefit, the
damage from
these messages is far greater than the minimal possibility that the note is
legitimate. So, as a rule,
we recommend that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO YOU PROPAGATE CHAIN LETTERS
OF ANY KIND THROUGH E-MAIL."
Another Quote From Chain Letter Central:
"Send Chain Letters Responsibly: This may come as a great shock, but many people hate getting
chain letters. Please do not send chain letters to someone who does not wish to receive them. Sending
chain letters to people who haven't requested them can cause loss of friendship, profane e-mail responses,
and ostracism. Generally, chain letters annoy the bejeebers out of people. So think a minute or two before
clicking that send button!"
Amen on these sage quotes!