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Why do people send forwards?

Posted by thegnr • 3/29/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic

These days I can't seem to open my email inbox with out seeing a forwarded message . ( I would say on average I get about 3-5 a week) the topics range from computer viruse warnings to contests, jokes and political news. Not that some of them are not amusing funny or up lifting but I would love to get more real emails from my friends, instead of forwarded messages written by other people.

( i'm not knocking any one for sending them but to me it's like getting a card from a close friend with their signature and the generic message from the card author.

Any one have any thoughts on why it seems people are sending more and more emails like this?

User Comments

3/29/08

JeanR

I hate getting that stuff! I usually delete it without reading it. I think some people are just not good communicators or writers so they use this junk as a way of keeping in touch without putting forth a real effort.

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1. 3/29/08
  
  MarkPogue
  
  My brother used to CONSTANTLY forward email, including hate mail.
  Then one day I decided to send it back to the entire forwarded email list with a few choice 4 letter words.
  Needless to say, the forwarded emails from him stopped.
2. 3/29/08
  
  Theresa111
  
  Ouch! Big Brother is Harsh! But little brother got the point. You know when they send you one that says to pass along the good luck in the next ten minutes, it creeps me out especially if is says do not delete this. I get rather torn.
3. 3/29/08
  
  thegnr
  
  Hey JeanR;
  That is exactly how I feel.It kills me when it comes from people i'm close to.
3/29/08

markstoneman

I sometimes think that kind of forwarding impulse could be satisfied with a blog. The emailer wants to share, but is stuck in the early 1990s.

If I forward information, I include a note about why I am sending it and if I am expecting a response of some kind.

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1. 3/29/08
  
  Theresa111
  
  "Little Red Dog! Little Red Dog! Just don't know why I love that Little Red Dog!"
2. 3/29/08
  
  thegnr
  
  hey Stoneman;
  
  Having a blog might give these people something to do.
3. 3/30/08
  
  shaedove99
  
  I agree. I have a friend who forwards all types of email jokes, urban myths, videos, etc. She'd have a great blog actually. I encouraged her to start one and she said, "I wouldn't know what to blog about." Go figure.
3/29/08

thegnr

Hey MarkPogue; I have a friend that I had lost touch with when we got reunited she only forwards me dirty jokes about three days a week. I told it annoys me but she still sends them. I like the way you handled it LOL.

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1. 3/30/08
  
  MarkPogue
  
  What I did was embarrass him because he thought I wouldn't call his bluff.
  
  I replied to all the forwarded email with a link to snopes.com to disprove his hate email.
3/29/08

JeanR

Too bad we can't figure out a way to get them to send forwards of links to our blogs.

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3/30/08

TigerKelvin

they have nothing else to do

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3/30/08

blackzedd

I have various email accounts. I usually give my spam account's address to my white collar friends..they like to forward the most..and I only check them once a week..

But sometimes those mails can be pretty amusing..

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3/30/08

thegnr

blackzedd; lol sounds like a good idea

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3/30/08

ekim941

Use this to your advantage. Send these people and email with a funny joke or something else of value and put a link to your blog in it. They are very likely to forward it to their friends who probably are also forwarders.

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3/30/08

sophielc

The only forwards I get are from my sister who got a joke email from a colleague at work: I like those! (God I just labeled myself as a geek with no friends; which is pretty true!)

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3/30/08

radu

the bad thing is when people put all the address book in the "TO" field and your email (that you protected from forums, registration forms, etc) become public and from here to the spam is just one small step ...
It happened to me to receive messages from people that I never new (and i knew is because of this because they send the email to all people in the list).

[reply]
1. 3/30/08
  
  thegnr
  
  radu; It seems like i'm getting a new one each day. I never thought about that but maybe thats How people are getting my email.
3/30/08

globalgirl

I just tell the forwarders to stop the insanity.

[reply]
1. 3/30/08
  
  thegnr
  
  Globalgirl; How I wish it was that easy.
3/30/08

jackpayne

I must be on a good list because I get some hilarious and often educational stuff, which I forward to an ample list. Much appreciation for being included on my list is often expressed. Are all these people, really, hopeless nerds who should be rounded up, tried, convicted, and executed by way of lethal injection as hopeless freeloaders unnecessarily expanding the world population explosion?

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3/30/08

mmjvy

hi...nice to see you here again...It's easier that way to forward the message or anything.

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3/30/08

sakuro204

I like to think most people send forwards because they think what they have to share is worthy of the time of others.

And I must say those annoying chain letters are less common nowadays than they were back in the late 90's and early this millennium. Either that, or it just had something to do with being in high school at the time...

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3/30/08

timethief

I do exactly what globalgirl does. I ask the forwarders to stop lest I choose to dump them as a contact. If they do not stop and continue to send me even more crap then I blacklist them so their email never reaches me again.

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3/30/08

timethief

@sakuro
Some people never leave actually highschool, if you know what I mean.

@thegnr
"globalgirl; How I wish it was that easy."
IMO if you respect your "self" and, the people who forward email to you do not respect you when you say "send me no more," then it's easy. No matter how "close" people may think they are to you, we all know that those who really are close to us do listen when we say, "no more - stop it".

[reply]
1. 3/30/08
  
  thegnr
  
  timethief; Very good point you are so right. Thats what I needed to hear i'm going to take some more direct actions. Thanks for the advice.
3/30/08

timethief

@thegnr
YAY! You're welcome. You deserve respect and people who truly care for you will acknowledge that and be governed by it.

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4/02/08

ccRicers

I never got the idea of sending someone a "curse" email. Why would your best friends want to bring you bad luck if you don't send it to X number of people?

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