How to forward Email, and make it your own, and why.

You may know this, but it is worth reviewing to make sure.

This is advice from a Network Administrator responsible for all of the computers at a very large corporation. 

It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send forwarded emails.

Please read the letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures.

Do you really know how to forward emails?  50% of us do; 50% DO NOT.

Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it?  Every time you forward an email there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their email addresses and names.  As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every email address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit.   That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel!  How do you stop it?  Well, there are several easy steps.

Try the following if you haven't done it before:

(1)   When you forward an email, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top).  That's right, DELETE them.  Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do.  It only takes a second.   You MUST click the "Forward" button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message.  If you don't click on "Forward" first, you won't be able to edit the message at all.

(2)  Whenever you send an email to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: fields for adding email addresses.   Always use the BCC:(blind carbon copy) field for listing ALL the email addresses.  This is the way the people you send to will only see their own email address.  If you don't see your BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear.  Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy.  When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say "Undisclosed Recipients in the "TO:" field of the people who receive it.

Note from Vern Nelson. I have always wondered when I receive a BCC email who the others were who received it. Personally, I do not care for the words “Undisclosed Recipients” In consideration of the people who receive BCC email from me I add the following addresses to my address book (As the First Name): All my friends, All my relatives, All my friends and relatives, All Board Members (SLAC), All plane owners, All SLAC members, etc. “All” is used so that they are together in the address book. The email address used is my own. Everyone receiving a BCC has one of the above categories shown as the “To” in the email received and are made aware to whom the email is being sent..

(3)  Remove any "FW :" in the subject line.  You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.

(4)   ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual email you are reading . This is the first one in the group of forwarded emails Ever get those emails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it?  By Forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many emails just to see what you sent.

(5)  Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition?   It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book.  The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses.   A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein. DO NOT put your email address on any petition.  If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient.  Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email addresses on a petition. (And don't believe the ones that say that the email is being traced; it just ain't so!)

ACTUAL FACT: Most e-mail petitions are worthless because they do not fully identify the signer by street address, etc. nor does it prove that the signer really signed it. Don't forward them.

Some of the other emails to delete and not forward are:

a. The one that says something like, "Send this email to 10 people and you'll see something great run across your screen."  Or sometimes they'll just tease you by saying 'something really cute will happen.'   IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!!!  I repeat.... IT AIN"T GONNA HAPPEN!!!!! (No matter how many you send it to or how long you wait.... IT AIN"T GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!!!!! We are still seeing some of the same emails that we waited on 10 years ago!)

b. Don't let the bad luck ones scare you either, they should get trashed.  


c. Before you forward an 'Amber Alert' , or a 'Virus Alert' , or some of the other emails floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them.  Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS!  Just about everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked out at Snopes.  Just go to www.snopes.com  .  It's really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not, please don't pass it on.

So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.

Also get rid of the advertisements at the bottom of your emails! You pay for your internet why advertise free for them? If they want advertisement let them pay you to use your space!!!!

Finally, here's an idea!!!  Let's send this to everyone we know ( but strip my address off first, please).  This is something that SHOULD be forwarded, so do it.