There was a time in my life where I really wanted to help that terminally ill child whose family was reaching out to me vial email forward, or grew seriously concerned about the risks of my deodorant giving me cancer. I call that time 1999, when chain email forwards were coming at me in all directions, namely from my friends, who also sent me email questionnaires about different aspects of their life, which were interesting the first 50 times I received them.
Now, my friends have realized how annoying and scam-worthy these forwards all were (though the questionnaire people moved on to MySpace bulletins). But that doesn't put me in the clear; it seems as some of my (let's say, older) relatives have finally "figured out" email, a certain email forwarding abuse has come with this newfound skill. So, I sort through them, scanning for anything new under the forward sun. Occasionally, if it's someone who won't be offended, I'll reply with the Snopes article disproving the forward they just sent. Hey, they have to learn too.
So tell me — are you still getting email forwards?
Dress for Less
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People Tree
I used to get a lot of chain-mail from my best friend, but now her level of geekery has grown to almost as much as mine, so she stopped on her own.
I taught my mom about Snopes, and after that she sent me chain-mails asking me to check Snopes for her, which was preferable to her freaking out over every chain-mailed urban legend. Then I told her that sending and opening chain-mails can increase the risk of getting a computer virus, and now I get zero chain-mails from her. Yay!
I used to get totally pointless chain-mails with huge inline pictures from my superior at work. This is such a noob thing to do, I don't know how she manages to be the person in charge of all the tech stuff at work. I once ran a virus scan and found over ten-thousand viruses on the work computer. So glad I don't work there anymore.
And I have an older (but not, like, elderly) cousin who used to send me junk with friggin' videos attached. That and he'd flood my inbox with tons of pictures of his kid (apparently he has never heard of Photobucket, Flickr, etc...). Now I have his email address blocked at the mail server level.
1I still get them, but usually i just delete it when i see FWD or when i see who its from as its usually the same people who send them everytime.
2Unfortunately, yes. My friends have even taken it to the point where they send chain texts. It drives me nuts.
3Yeah. My mom is ridiculous about sending them. I usually don't even read them. Just press the delete button. Ooops. Sorry mom.
haha
4I get them DAILY from my older relatives. It drives me up a wall.
5yes a few of my friends still send them but I don't send them out
6My Aunt just discovered the internet maybe a year and a half ago, so that is pretty much all she sends. It's funny to see that the items I sent out in 95 are still going around.
7Yep.
8My Mom sends them to me. Isn't that cute!!
9despite threatening them with death, i have a few peeps who still send me fwds. i sent them one warning message and then i block them forever.
10I have one friend who still sends them out but I stopped forwarding chain emails forwards years ago.
11Sometimes. Every time I get one (from someone I know, not spammers -- replying to spammers just confirms that your email is real) I reply to the sender, politely but firmly asking them never to send me another.
The new problem is Facebook apps.
12The forwards have pretty much tapered off for me, but on occasion, I've had to send Snopes articles to my grandmother in response to her forwards.
13my friends are smart enough to know better. my family on the other hand...
14My grandmother basically has email to send forwards that she thinks are hilarious or amazing, but I think I basically have her understanding I just don't want them in my inbox. Everyone else still gets them though, haha!
15Yes and they really get on my nerves! Ugh pesky chain emails.
16Am I the only one that feels kinda embarrassed on behalf of the family/friend that sends these ridiculous things!? I usually try to send a gently worded rebuff and the snopes facts, but it really makes me wonder... how can these seemingly intelligent people suddenly become so dumb in the face of electronic mail?!? Sigh...
17My step-mother-in-law sends them constantly.
18Sometimes. Most of them from spammers. I have a friend who used to forward chain mails and jokes to me, but I quickly fixed him from that habit.
19I get them sometimes, mostly from my mother but occasionally from someone else. I always respond with links to Snopes. com too!
20haha, I barely get them anymore (thank god.)
The only exceptions are my aunts and my friend, who only sends the "inspirational" ones. Inspirational or not, I never open them.
21How does one nicely and politely tell someone to not please send chain e-mail forwards? There is this one friend who sends a lot of them to me to the point where I have my system bounce them now. I have sent a few references to Snopes but I still get these e-mail forwards. I don't want to hurt her feelings, though. Because, as one e-mail forward stated, we should also think of it as a way for people to connect with us.
22My grandma sends fwds fairly often. I read the funny ones and delete the stupid/scammy/whatever ones. I don't have the heart to tell her how annoying they can be, and she sends them to an email address I almost never use, so it's okay.
Of course, one of my nerdy friends still sends me stupid ones too. I just delete all of hers unread, cos she should know better. (She sends them to the same never-used email address, so I only check it when I have time to deal with this crap haha.)
23Some of my former camp friends still do. Also, on my facebook i also get those weird stories that people post on your wall like, find out your crush's name! and total junk like that
24I still get forwards ALL the time... its annoying though sometimes there is a rare gem I haven't seen in a while - so I'll read it and reminisce lol
25The filters still miss a few, but not many.
Just an FYI. If you ever get a coupon from Starbucks, it's a fake. They NEVER send out e-mail coupons.
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