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Email Ettiquette Extended

    Rules have been established for polite emailing, but some people have missed their copies. However, I want to establish some rules for polite "chain letter" emails.

    I must admit I don't understand why chain letters continue to thrive in any form. You know the kind. Send copies to a specified number of people in the next 5 minutes or 24 hours or whatever. And usually with the promise that you'lll see something happen electronically. I've never observed anything happen from forwarding 5 copies or 10 copies or whatever. Nor have I noticed any particular blessings or whatever.

    So my first rule is:  If you like a cutsey email or clever political statement or patriotic prose or whatever, just forward it. Period. Drop all references to any specified number of forwarding. Even if you're promising prayers or blessings, it should have nothing to do with the number of people who are on your forwarding list. There is no magic in numbers! And drop the time limit. What if no one sees it for a week?

    Number 2: Should be used with emails anyway. Always erase the mailing history before you hit "Send". It's laborious to scroll down to the "meat" of your message, but it also puts a lot of email addresses out there for the dishonest world. Addresses of your friends or your friends' friends and relatives.
   
      Number 3: If it's a blessing or spiritual message you're sending, drop all negative comments. If a message says something bad will happen if you don't forward, I delete it. I will not send such a terrible message to anyone, not even an enemy! Why would anyone attach a horrible statement to a prayer or a promise of good fortune? That's what I always hated about old-fashioned chain letters. You should never tell someone that something bad will happen if they don't do what you ask. That's an age old form of bullying, disguised with well wishing.

      Number 4: If you're adding comments of your own to a newspaper article or someone's short essay, do yours in italics or in color, so that they are easily separated from the comments attributed to someone else.

    Number 5: Keep it simple. I get a lot of messages with multiple themes. If I like part of it, but not all of it, I eliminate the "extra" unrelated stuff. Everything in your message should be coherent and consistent.

    Number 6: Don't feel obligated to forward everything someone asks you to forward. Some are NOT worthy. They're not cute, they're not clever, they're not tasteful. Only forward things that really made you laugh or warmed your heart or gave you something to think about. Whatever  you're forwarding should be uplifting or enlightening or edifying. Things like how to handle choking, or what to do if you think you're having a heart attack, are good ones to forward, if they're well-written. Warning people about a new crime wave in your community is a good one. But just a lot of complaining or distasteful humor should be omitted. We're all too busy to read that junk. And there's enough whining and complaining about the status quo already.

    If in doubt, just don't forward the email. You might be breaking the chain, but don't worry about it. I for one have bad things happen whether I forward emails or not, so go ahead and break the chain.