Reply to All: A lesson in e-manners for my Bush-hating cousin

Opinion Journal ^ | 01/22/04 | ALAN BROMLEY

[Pokey78]

My cousin, whom I'll call "Bob," just included me in a group e-mail that implied President Bush was anti-Semitic because he hadn't appointed a Jew to his cabinet. The e-mail, which went out to some 50 people in my cousin's address book, said that every president in the past hundred years or so had indeed selected at least one Jew to be in his cabinet.

[Billthedrill]

Perhaps your cousin would be grateful if you signed him up for his local Democratic party fund-raiser. Not a pledge, just a request for information. He'll hear from them. And hear from them. And hear from them. And he'll never suspect his conservative cousin...heh heh...

[Joe_October]

Rat Bastard Liberal SOB can speak to everyone but you aren't allowed. Next time, answer praising him and see if you get a rebuke.

To be a rat liberal, you have to drink the kool-aid.

[america-rules]

If you want to really pi$$ him off post his email on a gay chat or BBS and say something like "looking for someone to go to Hawaii with me - I'll pay all expenses" email me at bob@mymail.com ASAP !

[honeygrl]

If they really don't want you to be able to reply to all, they could put the addresses in the "Blind Carbon Copy" (BCC) field instead of the To: field. You did nothing wrong. It was his own fault for not knowing how to send an email without showing everyone's address that he's sending it to. It's also not spam. You should reply to him and tell him that if he doesn't want the addresses shown, send the email using BCC instead. And tell him that honeygrl would like to tell him that he's #1, only it isn't my index finger I'm holding up.

[Tall_Texan]

Perhaps your cousin would be grateful if you signed him up for his local Democratic party fund-raiser. Not a pledge, just a request for information. He'll hear from them. And hear from them. And hear from them. And he'll never suspect his conservative cousin...heh heh...

Given the level of civility the DNC has shown lately, it was probably *they* that originated the e-mail and "Comrade Bob" was simply forwarding it on to his Kool-Aid Klub.

[Hell to pay]

Bob is a crybaby. Send everybody this picture of Bob.

[DB]

Actually it is bad etiquette to send Email to large groups with everyones address out in the open as Bob did.

This is how peoples Email address get on spam lists that are impossible to get off of.

If you want to send something to a large group use BCC or Blind Carbon Copy so that the other people in the group don't have their Email address exposed to all the others.

As far as Bob's actions, he's a hypocrite. His original unsolicited Email was no more or less spam than your response. By him sending it to you and his buddies he was implying to others that you thought similarly. You have every right to clear the issue up as you did.

Bob’s a whiny jerk.

[Howlin]

Especially when all their opinions and objectives are totally wrong and inconsistent with public sentiment!!...

You're a better person than I am; after that crack, I would have been "forced" to forward anything and everything I could to refute that absolute falsehood.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Bob's view--and I might be breaking all rules of etiquette by quoting this--was quite clear:

Proper e-mail etiquette does not include the use of other people's personal address books to further one's political, personal objectives, or opinions, and is very offensive. Especially when all their opinions and objectives are totally wrong and inconsistent with public sentiment!!...FYI, AOL calls it spam and you know the United States Government is prosecuting spammers!!!

Well, if Bob sent his opinions out to everybody on his list, wouldn't it be beneficial to send your informed reply to everyone on his list to set the record straight. Just think of it as a public service.

As for Bob, maybe what he really doesn't like is freedom of speech.

[Swordmaker]

The etiquette breech was done by "Bob" when he sent 50 emails WITH all recipients' addresses open to all recipients. Hasn't he noticed the BCC (Blind Copy) option on his e-mail client.

By allowing everyone to see the email addresses of everyone in his address book, he is opening them up to spam, viruses, worms, and spyware.

Bob is the offender.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

I use BCC routinely when sending to a group to keep email addresses confidential. Note that you do not need to include anyone in the TO: field when you do this (at least not in Outlook Express).

[watchin]

Or this:

http://www.youdontknowwhoiam.org/youare.swf