Fwd:
Since the time Hotmail became popular, people have been sending along chain mails, some of which remain in circulation to this day.
I guess at that time email was so new and fascinating that it didn't come into practical use until a year or so later, until everyone had an email address and large corporations began to formally incorporate it. So until that happened it was pretty much used for chain mails and later, spam.
Today - email is a primary form of communication of course. So chain mails today, are - spam.
Some of them can be funny, some interesting, maybe witty, inspiring, whatever (most of the time it's rubbish though) - but I don't want them in my inbox. I love email and get a lot of it during busy times so I don't like these things coming along interrupting it all.
So I politely ask the person to stop sending them to me. Of course sometimes I get a negative reaction which can't be helped. Forwards are almost a passive way of keeping in touch really (which is never a bad thing) - but there are better ways to go about it. The best one being Twitter of course, but explaining Twitter to people can be painful.
The forwards I do accept : the personal ones. The ones that come only to me, because it means that the other person knows that *I* will find it interesting (instead of taking a chafe and sending it off to the entire address book).
And even better - Delicious. A fantastic underutilized way of sharing that hasn't penetrated enough to make it more network-oriented and social rather than personal bookmarking.
So don't be offended if I respond with a 'Stop, please' to a forward. No offence, really.
Composed entirely on an iPhone, so ignore spelling errors.
Azhar Chougle | via iPhone
