Are
you one who spams others? It is very common that people received e-mails and forward it. I am one who is unaware that my action may lead to information overload.
E-mail spam also called as bulk e-mail, junk e-mail or spam only ‘is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by e-mail’ (Wikipedia 2008). Spam can be in many types but spam usually refers to ‘unsolicited e-mail, sent in large quantities’ (Wikipedia 2008).
‘Spam, or unwanted e-mails, makes up half of all e-mails sent around the world’ (BBC 2003).
(Source: Seobook)
Will you not forward a chain e-mail once you opened it? Due to fear, people will continue to forward it but on the other hand, being a document designer, we should be considerate and ethical.
For guidelines on Email Etiquette visit http://www.mainelearns.org/ovc/story_files/email_etiquette.pdf
People also tend to forward e-mails that they found to be interesting. ‘This type of mass-mailings constitutes spam and the lists of addresses on them are later used by spammers’ (Bruce 2008). Although I realized that this is a type of e-mail spam, I continued to forward to my friends as I feel sorry not to share something that I found interesting.
I often received e-mail that requires me to forward it with the purpose of helping others whereby each e-mail sent will contribute to a certain amount of money to the victim. Between the dilemma of helping others and contributing to junk mails, I chose to forward it.
According to Ray Tomlinson, ‘on average, we spend 52 hours a year just dealing with our junk mail’ and ‘some people… [is] hit with a form of spam in which there just seems to be an endless stream of it coming in’(Limberg 2008).
And do you know that e-mail spam can caused stress? As Professor Cary Cooper said, ‘e-mail is one of the most pernicious stressors of our time’ (Limberg 2008). According to a study, ‘one-third of office workers suffer from e-mail stress’ (Limberg 2008). While Aristotle stated that in order for a text to be rhetoric, it has to ‘appeal to the reader’s desire’ (Putnis and Petelin1996). Over here we can see that the e-mail that we sent is not even desired by the audience but causing stress towards them.
So, think twice before forwarding an e-mail. After knowing the effect of e-mail spam, I will be careful not to spam on others anymore.
(Source: MarketingSpot.com)
Bruce 2008, Ask Bruce, viewed 8 November 2008, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/askbruce/articles/email/spam_1.shtml>
Greenstone, B 2003, E-mail Etiquette, viewed 8 November 2008, <http://www.mainelearns.org/ovc/story_files/email_etiquette.pdf>.
Limberg, B 2008, E-mail is ruining my life!, media release 7 March 2008, BBC, <http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7281707.stm>.
Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, Professional communication: Principles and Application, Prentice Hall, Sydney
Wikipedia 2008, E-mail Spam, viewed 8 November 2008, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_spam>.
(Source: Seobook)
(Source: MarketingSpot.com)
