The "I Hate E-Mail Forwards" Thread

I've given up trying to get people to stop sending them (mostly my mother and one good friend are guilty of this). I just hit delete and get on with reading the one or two important emails in my inbox.

But yeah, I wish they would get that these sorts of things are annoying in the extreme.

I understand your perplexity. It's got to the stage whenever I get an email with a long list of addy's, it goes straight to the bin. What these people don't realize who forward in this manner is that they're putting everyone on the list in danger because anyone can use all those email addy's to do with as they will; the Internet is filled with idiots who wish to cause trouble. They also use the email lists to send viruses. Hoax-Slayer is a site that lists the bogus emails, internet scams, true stories and such out there. Forwarding is also a sign of improper netiquette and shows naivety. If one must forward something, copy and paste, into a new email or don't send it at all.

DEL

READ THIS BEFORE YOU EVER THINK OF SENDING ME ANOTHER EMAIL:
http://www.panix.com/~tbetz/boulder.shtml
THEN READ THIS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert
THEN READ THIS AGAIN:
http://www.panix.com/~tbetz/boulder.shtml

I know someone whose mother works with a guy who said he heard from someone at the bowling alley that this dude at church told him about somebody who stopped forwarding e-mails, especially the ones that say "FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO SEVEN PEOPLE YOU REALLY, REALLY CARE ABOUT AND YOU'LL GET THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN THE MAIL!!!!!!!! I KNOW BECAUSE IT WORKED FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!" and he died.

Spam Voyages

In honor of this thread I dug up an old poem I wrote about this, hope it's appropriate:

Spam Voyages

I went to my mailbox… so much incoming mail
And wondered wide-eyed at the stories they’d tell
With hopes of nice messages from family and friends
I pulled up the list, and the result stole my grins

Yes there were many bright messages and letters galore
Though not the kind I would wish to explore
Spilling from the monitor and into my lap
Were oodles and gobs of all kinds of crap

A message from Maggie and Melissa too
And Nasty Animal Girls, it looked like a zoo
They all said they wanted a visit from me
And the best thing about it, they said it was free

Now I don’t go in for all of this frap
And the senders of these must have thought me a sap
No I don’t need a potion to make me feel young
Or some darned contraption to make me well-hung

I don’t wish to see your webcams that zoom
Or linger voyeuristic as I peek live in your room
I don’t want a visit from some doctor by mail
Or take a voyage on a cruise as to the Bahamas they sail

I wish not to peek into another’s puter files
Or date a Russian woman who displays her wiles
So Mildred who’s lonely and live via cam
Tell all your buddies I don’t want their spam

Solitude and privacy is something I crave
And if courage is surfing porn sites; I’m not brave
So please take my name off all of your lists
And get it in your head, that's not how I get my kicks

Sheesh…

benbradley said:

READ THIS BEFORE YOU EVER THINK OF SENDING ME ANOTHER EMAIL:
http://www.panix.com/~tbetz/boulder.shtml
THEN READ THIS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert
THEN READ THIS AGAIN:
http://www.panix.com/~tbetz/boulder.shtml

Click to expand...

I'm too a-scared to hope those links.

OMG I hate e-mail forwards. I'll take it a step further to say I LOATHE them when they come from people who otherwise don't communicate with me. If you see fit to warn me about the latest stupid virus warning, would it kill you to take 30 seconds to send me a "hey, how are you doing?" e-mail? If you want to include me in your quota of "send this to X friends or something bad will happen" list, maybe do something to make sure I AM still your friend BESIDES sending me chain letters?

MOTHER-IN-LAW, I'M LOOKING AT YOU.

I can only take asking people not to send them to me so many times and then I get really annoyed. I've stopped asking now and block their emails. My family knows better. I got a email virus back in '98 from a trusted friend and since then I've never allowed forwarded emails.

I know what you mean. For about six months I was forwarded all of the PMs sent to the AW Mods. Some were painful - others very entertaining.

Finally, it stopped last week when I notified one of the admins.

Kept the password for the mod room though.

JJ

JJ I find it interesting that it took you six months to notify the admins.

I was busy compiling an AW PM anthology.

JJ

Is it too early to reserve a copy?

Sorry, even PA didn't accept it.

I'm thinking I'll make more money blackmailing though. Some very interesting gossip.

JJ

nevada said:

Is it too early to reserve a copy?

Click to expand...

Still awake I see.

Cassiopeia said:

Still awake I see.

Click to expand...

Seriously screwed up my body clock somewhere along the line. You should talk, miss kettle.

nevada said:

Seriously screwed up my body clock somewhere along the line. You should talk, miss kettle.

Click to expand...

Yeah I know, it just sucks. And I know I have to go get text books and go to the bank and even make it to class tonight. For three hours.

well, i'm going to bed, Pot....see you later gater

What is Snopes?

Sounds like the evil teacher in Harry Potter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snopes = crackwhores with too much time on their hands.

Like many of you, I've been on the 'net since before it was 'the 'net'. My offline friends and family just can't seem to accept I've seen 99% of the funnies going around.

And oh.gods! I hate these 'if you don't forward this to n friends in n minutes, you'll die a fiery death on the interstate in n hours'. Gee. Thanks. I love you, too.

And don't send me any more of those questionaires, either! Good gods! If you wanna know me that well, CALL ME. No, wait. No. Don't call me. I don't want you to know me that well. And I don't wanna know you any better than I already do.

What's worse is having people in real life talking about things they've read in email forwards as if they are fact.

I get a lot of the Obama "scandals" that I could very easily rebut with a snopes link if it were email, but hearing people talk about them I just shake my head and say "You should check out snopes," knowing that they never will.

I just delete all of them, unread. I have friends who ask me if I read that funny/shocking/etc email they sent me. I just say, "No. I don't read forwards." It seems to me that they often get it after a while of being ignored...but some just never stop.

Are we supposed to forward this thread?

James81 said:

What's worse is having people in real life talking about things they've read in email forwards as if they are fact.

I get a lot of the Obama "scandals" that I could very easily rebut with a snopes link if it were email, but hearing people talk about them I just shake my head and say "You should check out snopes," knowing that they never will.

Click to expand...

If they're anything like the resident jerk where I work, they'll claim that Snopes is just "part of the artsy-fartsy, fancy-pansy liberal media cartel" and ignore it. I'm staring to wonder if the real reason they put this cubicle around the desk is so I'd have a padded wall or two to bang my head against...