I presume, though I have never seen any evidence for this, that we don’t all get the same email forwards. For instance, I never received this forward… but Steve W. did:
Text:
Did You Know This About Leather Dresses?
Do you know that when a woman wears a leather dress, a man’s heart bests quicker, his throat gets dry, he gets weak in the knees, and he begins to think irrationally???
Ever wonder why?
It’s because she smells like a new golf bag!
Why don’t I typically receive such forwards? To suggest that it has something to do with my sex, which was my first guess, is probably too simple of an explanation. I suspect it also has something to do with my class, politics, and occupation.
What kind of forwards do you (not) get? Do you think you might be surprised at what other people receive in their inbox?
Do you selectively forward certain sentiments to some people and not others? Do certain sentiments come from some people in your social network and not others?
What does the big wide world of forwarding look like? Who forwards what to who? Or, what part of the forwarding-whole is largely invisible to you?
Comments 33
SarahMC — April 27, 2009
I think it's probably a coincidence. Most people who find that shit funny aren't smart or considerate enough to skip over the emails of folks it might offend.
macon d — April 27, 2009
Lotsa questions there! But yeah, there's a whole, seemingly unexplored realm of communication going on there.
I get a lot of forwards from friends and family who don't realize that I'm not especially interested in such things as the ongoing battle to prove that Obama wasn't born in America, or that Sheriff Joe Arpaio is our most unjustly unsung hero.
Email forwarding might be a form of social networking that entails a lot of miscommunication of this sort (unless others are more aggressive than I am about turning off certain forwarding-faucets).
Inky — April 27, 2009
I used to get quite a few (conservative) political and (evangelical) religious forwards from my extended family until I started forwarding them the "liberal junk mail" that I get from the various organizations I've joined.
Now they just forward me pictures of kittens which is defintely something I can live with. :)
Megan — April 27, 2009
I too had to ask religious/conservative relatives to stop sending me things that I found offensive. These days, though, e-mail forwarding in general seems kind of old-school or even bad netiquette. I feel like I and most people I know just post a link on a blog or Facebook when we want to share something. Is my social circle outside the norm?
This reminds me that there's also an interesting difference between the nature of spam in different cultures. (self-promotion alert) I once wrote a brief blog post about this... http://megancase.wordpress.com/2007/10/12/a-dissertation-could-be-written-about-this/
mordicai — April 27, 2009
Forwards? Those still exist?
Dubi — April 27, 2009
I have largely extinguished most forwards to me by insulting whoever sent them to me with sayings like "This? I saw this back in 1998. It was kinda funny back then".
But maybe you don't get these forwards because people don't think they will tickle your funny bone like they do me and the other neanderthals. cf. Sarah over there.
Penny — April 27, 2009
My extinguishing strategy is to "reply all" with a snopes.com link debunking the panicky urban-legend forward (and that's what I seem to get a lot of). If it's a repeat offender and I'm in a crabby mood, I'll add the message, "The information in this email is clearly untrue. Please stop forwarding nonsense, nobody has time for it."
Steve Portigal — April 27, 2009
I just get the usual virus warnings ("be sure to send this to everyone in your address book") - I've pretty much clued my family in that anything that says that is 99.9% a scam, but I got one a couple of weeks ago that overrode that filter because they had written in fake-virus-alert that "this is true, you can look in snopes.com" or some other authenticity claim that was designed to overcome the techniques that people like Penny and myself tend to use. I got into a rather awkward conversation with said family member about the fact that they SAID that doesn't make it any more true; it's easy to see how people get taken by those scams that come in the postal mail on official-looking letterhead.
Amanda — April 27, 2009
I agree with Penny, I do the same thing. My mom is a republican and knowing I am very liberal usually sends me stupid forwards telling lies about liberal politicians or illegal immigrants taking white american tax dollars. I usually hit "reply all" and cite sources to show that the forwards are not true because most people believe what they read and then just forward on.
al oof — April 27, 2009
every once in a while i realize that no one ever sends me forwards. and from what i can tell, this might have to do with my not having the email address of a single extended family member (and they don't have mine). it just seems like these things always come from conservative relatives. and i actually have to double check email addresses for my brothers with my dad, because i can't trust that the one i have is up to date (and i usually call my dad).
Sabriel — April 27, 2009
I don't get any forwards because I have asked people not to send them to me. I think the fact that I am not in email communication with my extended family does help.
Holly — April 27, 2009
The only ones I seem to get anymore are the "please be more careful, because you're a delicate woman" emails. When something horrible has happened (or most likely didn't happen) to a woman I get an email from a concerned aunt or friend detailing the situation, outlining how to avoid that situation like I couldn't figure it out (I'm not only a delicate woman, I'm a stupid woman as well), and telling me to forward the email to any woman I care about. I do not forward the email. I must be a horrible woman who doesn't care about others.
Shel — April 27, 2009
I agree with Megan.. email forwards are viewed with the same level of derision as spam, but even sadder as most are incredibly old.
waxghost — April 28, 2009
Holly, I have gotten one or two of those also.
But most of the forwards I get are from, as others have said, conservative family members who send some really dumb, offensive stuff. I just write back something along the lines of, "I would much rather have a real email from you about what's going on in your life than something that someone else wrote. Please don't send me any more of these; if you do, I will just delete them anyway." So far, no one has persisted and I really don't get forwarded emails very often at all.
Ali — April 28, 2009
Most of the forwards I get and/or send involve nerdy stuff that me and my fellow engineer coworkers find interesting so no complaints there. I do get some of those stupid "this is how you will die this week!" emails, almost always from the company safety committee so I can't really opt out of those.
Other than that I've only received spam forwards twice at work (I get the occasional religious forward from my parents but other than that my personal emails stays blisfully forward free). With the political forward I replied all with links that explained/refuted every point in the email and told the sender they should base their vote on more than just unsubstantiated email forwards. With the offensive racist/sexist/homophobic/xenophobic "joke" email, I told the sender to never include me on forwards like that again or I would send it along to HR and the only reason I hadn't with thta email is because at the time I did consider that person a friend.
hypatia — April 28, 2009
I find most of the e-mail forwards I receive are from my much older relatives who aren't "hip" to websites like FaceBook yet and that they mostly consist of cute pictures, inspirational/cute anecdotes, and crude humour.
I just tend to delete them and leave it at that.
a westie — April 28, 2009
I think a lot of people forward these things before they even think through the implications. The political ones often have a sense of urgency or an argument based on religious faith inspiring a quick forward. As for the jokes, people don't take them as seriously, so they don't devote as much thought.
Still, that's not a good excuse for misogyny. My point is more that people should think before they send their emails, as a forward reflects poorly on them when the email is in bad taste.
Village Idiot — April 28, 2009
I love the forwards I get that have passed through about 50 inboxes first and so I have to scroll waaaaaay down past all the old headers to see the content. I never bother looking at the content because I'm too busy harvesting and selling all those ripe, valid email addresses to spammers.
OK, I'll admit I don't really do that myself, but that's what happens
(and probably why there are so many of the damned things going around).
Liz — April 28, 2009
Due to my determination not to discuss politics at work during the presidential election, one of my VERY conservative co-workers assumed this meant I was actually conservative (which is the complete opposite of what I am). She promptly put me on her mailing list and I would get e-mail after e-mail with things like, "ORDER YOUR NO-BAMA STICKER TODAY!". I didn't bother correcting her because I thought it was funny to read the super conservative political propaganda.
Yonah — April 30, 2009
I don't get forwards either. My friends have long since learned that if they keep sending me forwards, they quickly cease to be my friends.
The History Enthusiast — May 2, 2009
On the flip side, I'm conservative and I used to get forwards from liberal friends who were part of anti-Iraq War listservs and they wanted me to join, or articles with lies about Palin, etc.... Just know that it goes both ways.
Capri — May 17, 2009
Forwards definitely still exist and go around like wild fire. But now they're more likely to be emails advertising the latest craze of a music video or something else from a site like Youtube. Who else has gotten the Il Divo "Amazing Grace" viral video, or that 47-year-old lady singing on America or Britain's Got Talent, I don't remember which, or the two-year-old singing "Our Father" ? These and all other forwards crop up in text messages and on web forums and social networks, which is why I eventually got rid of Facebook's not so "super wall" and not so "fun space" Facebook groups are perpetuating forwards too, the number of groups that shout out how to lower gas prices or sine the "Jamie Bulger" petition, even applications are just chain letter forwards. The "Dr. Phil Personality Test" is actually a chain that has been made into a blasted Facebook quiz app for crying out loud! And I get mostly forwards of the feel-good kind, which do anything but - and make me pretty sore at my friends for losing their common sense and forwarding this sappy spam. Seriously, getting 10 copies of some badly constructed chain letter is not going to determine that you have 12 true friends or that you are a caring true friend! Do people really think I'm thick enough to believe that? I didn't think they were until they sent the blasted junk of this sort. What I'll do with urban legend forwards is to reply to all with the url or article debunking the legend, and then remind whoever sent it to stop passing on chain letters. And don't get me started on the sick/missing kid hoaxes and fake religious chain letters, I am one of a few Christians who absolutely detests chain letters that pretend to be religious and inspirational and dupe far too many Christians, conservatives, or both into passing them along. I'm also sick to the back teeth of seeing most people speaking out against forwards turning out to be anti-Christian or left-wing or both, while so many moderates and Christians don't mind chain letters, and they sure as heck should mind. It's all mass manipulation and forwards will use any angle and emotional trick in the book and then some to yank the heart-strings or funnybone to get people passing them along. Then there are the people who get all touchy when their chain letter wasn't received with rave reviews and big pats on the back for being such a "caring friend" and sending it on. "I'll never send you another fwd again!" Uh, that's not the point, pal, the point is to get you to think about what you're getting cyber-manhandled into spreading, whether it's to me or anyone else - and just stop it! Why people let chain letters boss lead them around by the nose while they have no problems ignoring and refusing things that come personally from their friends/family I'll never know. And what's with people who think that after a couple of really nice personal notes back and forth, that it means I want to get forwards and e-cards? I don't, that's not communication, it's a very poor substitute. And the "friendship" ones really gall me. Because you know they aren't personal at all. They've been sent all over the place to and from millions of people I don't know, and my friends just got suckered yet again. And most often, they are so sickly sweet, and very preachy, as if I need lectures on what a friend is and how a friend must always be there etc, because they or I could die tomorrow and yet, the only time these people can even be bothered to send me anything at all, it's always that crap, where are they when I really need a friend to talk to? Too busy passing on friendship forwards! When friends abandon you and continue sending chain letters to others who are either too afraid to say anything unfavorable about the forwards, or because they love this stuff just as much, that can and has lead to some pretty hard feelings.
Marlena — June 2, 2009
To History Enthusiast:
I am not so sure about your "it goes both ways" post, at least that has not been my personal experience. I am a Liberal and very rarely do I get forwards of a political nature from my fellow Libs, I have, however, received many, many Conservative forwards, most of them full of lies and distortions. I have, on more than one occasion, told these people to stop sending me such garbage, even then some of them have persisted. I have lost friends over this and I have come to believe there is a real difference between Conservatives and Liberals in this regard.
Capri — October 20, 2009
It does go both ways. The leftists just don't complain about their own forwards while blasting all around the net how REPUBLICANS ALWAYS PASS ON CHAINLETTERS!" It's made worse by the republicans that do pass on chain letters, and they need to stop it and realize they are getting manipulated by hoaxters and spammers. Like I said before, I'm so damn sick of right-wingers and/or Christians indulging in chain letters while just about anyone else out there who hates chain letters as much as I do, turn out to be left-wing or anti-Christian as well as against chain letters. I'm also sick of right-wing and Christian people ignoring and refusing to listen to me when I tell them to cut out the chain addiction and why!
Capri — June 12, 2010
Nike's post = spam - we're not talking about loneliness and being lovelorn.
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United Bronx — May 18, 2022
This is just a common sense. If you send something to someone in writing, there is always a risk of it being forwarded to a well-wisher. So never send things like that.
axeltulip — May 18, 2022
Bronx, you are right as hell! I remember that I sent pretty compromising material to my friend via Gmail ten years ago and how I regretted that later and feared he would blackmail me. Fortunatly there was a hiccup on his computer and all mails disappeared. I gave him this https://www.auslogics.com/en/articles/fix-gmail-not-loading-in-chrome/ instruction to help make Gmail work again, but I hope he will never restore my drunken revellations ever.
Tif — July 28, 2022
I suggest collecting formally and individually. Because these email addresses are usually inactive when someone acts anonymously, etc. In other words, if you need to find potential customers, it will be pointless; cold letters might not even be delivered. It is preferable to look at e mail address finder find email address by name for free here because I have never used their aid and can swear to the quality of the emails, which are active, legitimate, and screened. Good luck.
Max Adams — December 20, 2022
What Tif writes about is quite interesting. But I cannot agree with everything. Now there are special tools that help to make email mailings very effective. In the https://getprospect.com/blog/how-to-write-follow-up-email article about no response follow up email, a lot is written about this. After all, modern online tools for finding e-mail addresses and their subsequent distribution use very effective algorithms.
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Email Forwards and Social Networks" refers to the practice of sharing content through email and social media platforms, often leading to rapid dissemination of information, whether it's factual or not. In both cases, the original message can quickly reach a vast audience, sometimes with unintended consequences. It's crucial to verify the content before forwarding it, as misinformation can easily spread. In a professional context, using certified mail instead of regular email can provide a layer of security and confirmation, ensuring that sensitive information reaches its intended recipient without the risk of alteration or unauthorized sharing. certified mail is particularly valuable when the integrity and proof of delivery are essential.
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