What's new in Ocean Shores?
Readers share adventures in land of e-mail
The Olympian asked readers how they use e-mail, whether it's a welcome addition or an noying necessity in their lives, and whether they've ever made or been the victim of a blunder. Here are some of their responses:
I grapple daily with the sheer volume of friendly e-mails. I beg my buddies to restrict their contributions to one a day and they might m anage for a while, but soon I'm over whelmed again. I solve the over-supply of e-mails by purging them, unread, when I see no possibility of catching up with them. It's never an easy decision to do this, though, knowing I'm probably losing some true gems.
The blunder that stands out is when I had two people in my ad dress book with the same name, one my friend and one, not only not my friend, but who was quite rude to me. They are both members of an organization central to my life. For quite a while, I sent jokes and personal com ments to the unfriendly party, wondering why my buddy wasn't responding. I shudder to think what the recipient was saying when my e-mails arrived.
The best part of e-mail is staying in touch with people I'd lose contact with otherwise. Oh, and the luxury of doing business on the Internet at any hour of the night.
- Kathleen Rooney, Lacey
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Biggest blunder in an e-mail:
I think the details would be too revealing, so suffice it to say that I sent an e-mail to a couple of people about some concerns I had about another person advising them of my intent to confront that person face to face. One of the recipients came to me within minutes and pointed out that I had copied my e-mail to the person of concern. Once I confirmed that I had, I knew then that the person would be deeply hurt by what I shared, and it exposed the similar concerns of two other persons without their consent. It was a very sensitive issue, and created a lot of turmoil within the circle of friends.
The immediacy of the e-mail is sometimes like the spoken word, but worse, while words can dim with memory, an e-mail can be forever.
Be careful what you say in all e-mails, and be even more careful about who you send one to.
- Robert S. Geissinger, Olympia
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We absolutely love the e-mail feature on our computer. We are somewhat limited by being in the Olympic forest and having a dated telephone line over which our e-mails must travel.
We wish all e-mail spammers will awaken the next month in a cold, wet bed. That they dare invade our home with their junk is offensive.
We can communicate with relatives and friends much easier with e-mails and spellcheck allows us to use correct and accurate language. E-mail is wonderful and everyone should have it. But thank goodness my mother-in-law does not have it.
- Dennis Rohn, Hoodsport
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Without e-mail, life would be so much more of a challenge. It is great.
- Dave Baird, Tumwater
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E-mail is the main reason I own a computer. I love e-mail. Having a young child at home, talking on the phone is difficult due to frequent interruptions. With e-mail, I can "talk" to friends at 6 a.m. or 11 p.m. when my son is asleep, both of which would not be acceptable times for telephone calls. I know I feel very disappointed when I sit down to check my e-mail and don't have any correspondence from friends.
The two biggest e-mail "blunders" I've been a recipient of are people who type in all capital letters, which is considered the same as yelling, and "chain" e-mails, which unnecessarily and irritatingly clog up bandwidth on the Internet as well as my inbox.
The biggest blunder I've been guilty of is being too wordy in my e-mails as well as failing to correctly construe my intent. Be ing that e-mail lacks the ability to construe body language, eye contact and emotion, it is easy to misread the intent of the writer.
- Jennifer A. Flinton, Olympia
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As an attorney and adjunct professor, I receive dozens and dozens of e-mail a day. I manage the enormous volume by maintaining separate e-mail files for classes, clients, cases and subjects. E-mail has changed the way I communicate with clients, students, family and friends, enabling me to respond quickly 24/7. It has enabled me to keep in touch with relatives across the country and plan a reunion.
As for blunders, I've had my share due to sending or forwarding an e-mail but neglecting to erase the e-mail string.
- Shawn Timothy Newman, Olympia
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While it is no doubt a time-eating bane, e-mail also is the world-reducer extraordinaire! It is especially wonderful for planning exotic trips. Now, my wife and I are planning a trip to South Africa to visit our relatives and see the sights. We are connecting in an amazingly intimate way with people we have never met! They are doing everything for us: booking safari trips at rates far below what regular tourists would pay; setting up family events; helping us structure our travels to maximize our experiences and their convenience. Now, we are about to travel more than halfway around the world to people who have come to be our friends, not just blood relatives. That can be only in these times of e-mail and Internet.
- Daniel Farber, Olympia
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E-mail has made my world smaller, brought my family closer together, enhanced my friendships. I knew about the great-grandchild just minutes after it was born, with pictures. I knew that all was well - never before immediately possible. Sure I would have gotten a phone call and the pictures would have followed in a few weeks, but to share the moment would not be possible without e-mail.
Each morning I look forward to messages from close friends, some even on a daily basis. Messages about the little things that bring us closer together.
When something turns up I don't clearly understand, my computer is only moments away, providing me with information, many times c hanging "wondering" to detailed "information." We live in a world of wonder!
- Joe Masters, Lacey
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I use e-mail a great deal. As a physician and Aerospace Medical Examiner for the FAA, I receive inquiries regarding medical conditions and situations that affect pilots. E-mail is a great help as it avoids phone tag, but is not a substitute for an actual conversation or a medical examination. It is surprising to me how many people think that providing a few sentences related to a problem or medical issue is all that is necessary for me to make a "spot on" diagnosis and render treatment. Usually they want it for free.
With e-mail, it is easy to blunder with seemingly simple questions. I work very hard to avoid assumptions - except to assume that the questioner is honest. Sadly, some individuals avoid veracity like the plague or use the anonymity of e-mail to be disrespectful, rude or even hateful. When communicating via e-mail, I set limits. If it seems I am going nowhere, it is time for a phone call or face-to-face meeting, or I just truncate the interaction, altogether, referring them elsewhere.
- Dr. Curtis Edwards, Olympia
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I committed a blunder the other day. I have a group e-mail, something new with Babes In Belts, a new creation.
When I put all the names for this group under a single heading, I found that I cannot send an e-mail to any individual without going into the address book, clicking on the group's properties, then clicking on the name of the person I want to send an e-mail to.
Not understanding this, I wrote the e-mail then went into the group to get that person and the e-mail was sent to every member of the group with all e-mail addresses exposed. Oops!
It was all OK. I did get some good feedback from other group members regarding my mechanical question, but others sent me messages telling me about bcc. I understand bcc and was using it successfully. This is different.
With the new organization, I also have created its own e-mail so my private e-mail is separate. This has helped a great deal in keeping my private interests separate from my organization/business activity. That too was a learning curve. I had to get support assistance to figure out how to do this.
Also, I am very selective about receiving e-mail from other network e-mailers. I am amazed that scammers still manage to get through on my e-mail even with the filter on high. One of the downfalls of Outlook Express is that they do not have a link to report scam e-mail. I wish they would do something about that. I have been told that Outlook Express is the most compromised e-mail service provider, yet I have not found any other as yet, that is as convenient as Outlook. I do not have to log on to the Web to use it.
- Diane Dondero, Rainier
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We keep in contact with our immediate family by e-mail as well as nieces and nephews around the USA and a couple of foreign countries. It is easier and cheaper than a phone call. We also use Windows Messenger when talking to family.
On special days such as Mother's Day, Father's Day and birthdays, we always receive special greetings from family and friends.
I had one blunder some time back. I sent an e-mail to all our kids but some how a person in Germany also received the same e-mail.
They sent one back to me saying they were not interested in my family affairs and don't send any more e-mails.
To this day, I don't know how the e-mail went to Germany.
- Bernard W. Jesse, Olympia
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I was a victim of a major blunder: Two years ago, my mother was living with my sister when she became very ill (she was 82) and was placed in a hospice by my sister.
I told my sister that she could update me with my mother's health by e-mailing me.
In the meantime, my computer broke and it was at that time that my mother passed away. Instead of calling with the news, my sister took this as an "update" and e-mailed me.
Needless to say, I was VERY upset that she took this way instead of calling on the phone.
The computer can be a very useful instrument but should not be used in a sensitive matter as with a death in the family.
I use e-mail to "talk" to my cousins, sons, friends, but if I have something important to discuss, I use the phone.
- Jan Wozniak, Lacey
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E-mail can be a real slave driver if you let it. I try to limit the amount of time I spend answering e-mail and just chuck all the rest. I treat it just like snail mail: If it's from someone I know or is about something I am truly interested in, I keep it. Personal letters get opened first. If too much time goes by and I still haven't opened the "interesting" mail, it usually gets trashed.
E-mail makes my life MUCH easier. I can communicate with a whole group of people all at once for free. I also feel like I'm intruding less on people's personal time because they have the freedom to read it on their own time versus a phone call, which happens when I choose the time.
Not long ago I had an embarrassing e-mail situation. I thought I had forwarded a message to my husband, but I had actually clicked "reply" and called someone else "Hon!" Yeah, Susie had a good time with that one.
- Bev Campese, Olympia
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I think e-mail is the greatest thing to come down the pike. I have weekly, sometimes daily, conversations with my kids who live a distance from me. I'm in contact with friends very often. It has some down sides with people trying to take advantage, but I have the choice to ignore them.
All in all, the pluses are greater than the minuses, so I enjoy it.
- Dwight Caron, Olympia
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I love e-mail. Moving back to Olympia after 23 years in California, I felt like a fish out of water. But, by signing up with Classmates.com, I was able to find several long-lost friends to help me through the transition of getting reacquainted with the area.
It's also great for staying in touch with friends who have gone in different directions; and, in my case, close family members who have moved to Africa. It's instant communication, and much easier to respond to than sitting down and writing a letter. If it's only the forwarding of a joke, you know someone was thinking of you. (Need I mention the cost of stamps have gone up, and Hotmail is free?)
- Pat Perry, Olympia
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Email is a wonder most of the time and the bane of my existence when I haven't checked my inbox at work for a day or two (we're talking hundreds of emails received, including the ones from the Administrator stating that I am over my limit for space).
My advice to folks is to keep emails short, simple, and to the point. If you need to say more than just two or three short paragraphs, make it an attachment or just talk to the person face to face (the telephone works wonders for relaying messages and is more personal).
Before you send off that scathing e-mail, have a trusted co-worker or friend read it. You will save yourself some embarrassment.
I use MS Outlook e-mail. I created folders and rules for e-mails that come into my inbox. This helps with the sheer volume of e-mails and makes it more manageable to deal with. The rules place certain emails in a separate folder. I also like to "request a read receipt" for important emails. This helps you know who deletes your e-mail without reading it; you can track how your e-mail is treated by those who received it.
- Shirley Bayon, Olympia
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I use e-mail sparingly - basically responding to messages sent to me and rarely initiating them. I am a high-touch, personal relationship kind of guy and don't get many kicks looking at a computer screen and reading words when I'd prefer talking in person or on the phone. I get a lot of spam, which I hate, but haven't had anything else to worry about.
E-mail is a fact of life and most people love it. I'm not one of them.
- Dick Nichols, Tumwater
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E-mail - what a godsend. It has made my life so much easier these days when time is most valuable to me and my family, friends and co-workers.
I'm not really sure how we ever got along before it came into being.
I get automatic alerts by way of e-mail for family happenings, parties, functions, movies, plays, and much more.
Plus, it has allowed me to stay in close touch with family members without the high cost of long-distance phone calls, and it is in an instant. That has come in handy often.
I use e-mail in my work, and I run on a tight schedule, so the immediate nature of e-mail is often a needed benefit.
I have folios to save my e-mail by type: family, billings, accounts and work issues and more.
Plus, my server is good at sorting out spam mail for me. But generally, it does not take much to figure what is junk mail and what is for personal use. I love that feature.
You do have to be most cautious at filling out online surveys or questionnaires, or ordering items online. I did only once, and it took me weeks to sort out bogus billings to my debit card and rampant spam junk mail. Scam experts can somehow get your information and send you bogus billings. Fortunately I always check my bank balances and this billing came with a 1-800 number which I was able to call in New York. They claimed I viewed and accepted their survey, however, this was not true. Then I was asked what I wanted them to do about my bogus billing. Of course I told them to credit it to my account at once. They said that was all they needed to know, and they did give me my credit. But caution is best - always.
- Jas McKinzie, Olympia
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We received a lot of e-mail messages each day; unfortunately, most are unwanted. As a rule we don't even open anything we don't recognize or if it has a blank subject line.
I've set up folders to hold our e-mail. We have one for each of our clubs, family, friends and other areas. When a message comes in that we want to keep for a while, we place it in the appropriate folder. The problem is some of the folders have messages in them from years ago that we haven't taken the time to clean out.
I find it a bit frustrating when people don't reply to an e-mail. I've found that generally speaking if I send something out and don't have the reply in 1-2 days, the chances of ever getting a reply are remote. When I ask, they say "Oh I forgot you sent me something." If I can't reply to a message right away, I highlight the message as being unread so I can deal with it later.
- Peter Schultz, Olympia
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The use of e-mail can certainly be a blessing or a nuisance. Hopefully, I've not offended anyone (maybe intentionally as a reply to a solicitation e-mail!) but I have received messages in caps or, worse yet, boldface and caps. That certainly grabs your attention, but not in a positive way. It's tempting to respond in like manner.
E-mail is quite convenient as I can read/respond whenever I choose - I don't have to worry about "what time is it there?" Also it's possible to save those important messages for future use or proof.
We have Norton Security and SpyWeb Sweep (I think that's what it's called) which slows down start up sometimes, but it's a necessary part of maintaining security. We have to be very careful where we go on the Internet - it's a strange neighborhood at times.
My pet peeve with e-messages is that folks don't bother to re-read or check spelling before shooting off a message.
- Frances M. Feil, Olympia
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E-mail and the Internet have changed my life. I am a sole practitioner consultant. With e-mail, I can stay in touch with my clients from anywhere in the world, and even do small projects for them while traveling. It has allowed me to take more and longer vacations, but those vacations almost always have at least short interludes of "work" interspersed. The good news is, I can go to Ocean Shores for a few days, to Hawaii for two weeks, and often my clients don't even know I'm "gone." The downside may be that I don't unwind as completely while on "vacation." On balance, it's a huge plus for me.
- Jim Lazar, Olympia
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How did I ever live without e-mail? It enables me to keep better communication with family and friends who are out-of-state. Especially the ones who are in other countries. No more long distance phone calls.
As a writer, e-mail allows me to contact editors, even submit articles via e-mail attachments.
E-mail makes it simple to shoot off my opinions, whether to the Olympian (!) or anyone else who needs my wonderful wisdom and knowledge.
Blunder tips:
Reread what you've written, before hitting that "Send" button. At times, you might even wait a full 24-hours before sending. Amazing, how our thoughts on something can change after a brief passage of time.
Never guess. ALWAYS use your Spell Check!
Let's see. Should I wait 24 hours before sending this one?
- Karen Strand, Lacey
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I could do better at cleaning up and deleting e-mail. However, I do keep things from getting out of hand using Message Rules.
I get The Olympian online and send it directly to my "The Olympian" folder. I do this folder parsing with other groups or organizations I subscribe to. It keeps down the clutter from my Inbox and allows me to easily review and delete the parsed secondary e-mails. I use rules to send junk mail I can't stop directly to the Delete folder. I am also active in some Thurston County issues and keep a separate folder where I manually move e-mails. This cuts down searching Inbox and Sent Item folders for history when I want to revisit a specific issue.
- Howard Glastetter, Olympia
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I think that e-mail is marvelous. It allows you to contact friends, family, etc., with simple statements of news, acceptance, invitations, etc., without all the small talk usually required with a phone call. Communication can be done anytime without fear of intruding or waking someone up. I have never had a problem with e-mail; I get very little spam and the forwards I get are usually delightful. All in all, I can't say enough good things about it.
- Billie Briggs, Montesano
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It's addictive. It begins with addresses shared with family and close friends. Once you get the idea of how easy it is to communicate with others, you start working to expand your address list. Then someone sends a response to "Reply All" and without asking, you have a whole new treasure trove of addresses. Suddenly it feels like you have a vast audience just waiting to hear about your latest escapades. WOW!
Then reality takes a bite and the pop-ups on forwarded messages begin using computer capacity. It isn't long before a virus is transmitted and somebody on your list with more sophisticated protection software writes that your messages contain a bug. Now what to do?
I tried some of the recommended products but found they were difficult to master. So I asked a technician what they used and by golly he shared that info with me. Now I feel completely safe with a product designed by a company called Digital River. The product, Trend Micro by name, is easy to set up and works better than anything I've tried. Now, who wants to be added to my list?
- Ron Lawson, Lacey
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I like the speed of e-mail. I send pictures to loved ones via e-mail. I also like the fact that someone can e-mail a picture of something to me that I may want to purchase. If I have an announcement or perhaps a family holiday letter, I can send it to all my family members with just a few clicks of the keys. I don't like the "chain letters" that are sent around, they are a real pain and I never pass them on. Luckily, I've never made a big blunder with my e-mails.
- Barbara Cox, Olympia
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E-mail has made me an informed citizen. I get reports from alternative news sources that help me understand the world, after the confusion I get from the standard TV and newspaper sources. For example, it seemed strange that the Iraqi government couldn't figure out any kind of a peace plan - it looked like they were just twiddling their thumbs while their country went up in flames. Yet they were the elected representatives of a people who badly wanted the occupation to end; they knew a plan was essential.
Through AlterNet, I found out the answer - they did write up a peace plan and it addressed all the issues: how to control the militias, how to share power, how to parcel out the oil money. You can see the report at www.alternet.org/waroniraq/52135/?page=1. The only trouble with it was, it didn't allow Iraqi oil to fall into the hands of foreign corporations such as Exxon, Shell, et. al. - therefore the Bush Administration nixed it.
I like being informed because all these bits of information hang together and form a coherent whole. I already knew the Administration was pushing for that oil bill that takes control of the oil away from the Iraqis, and this fills in the picture. So the Internet is essential to my feeling of being a part of the world.
I deal with spam, flameouts, etc. as best I can. They are minor in comparison with the benefits of the Internet. I hope we don't give in to the plans I hear about, creating different tracks for different kinds of people. That would be awful.
- Janet Jordan, Olympia
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I use it a lot, and think it's a great way to stay in touch. One son and his family live in Australia, so it's so much easier with e-mail. Of course, the same is true for other friends and family all over the U.S.
I have two "gripes" about e-mail. One, of course, is spam; it gets very tiresome and time-consuming. The other is friends who swamp us with funny stories, useless facts and "news" and chain letters (send this on to 10 friends in 10 minutes or the bogeyman will get you).
- Robert Schuster, Olympia
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I think it goes without saying that a person should have all the usual security programs for protection and that includes anti-spam.
For being able to change ISPs easier, I would say never use the e-mail program of your ISP. It is better to use something such as Hotmail or Gmail.
There is even an e-mail thing called Squirrelmail. It seems their motto is something about being useful to nuts.
- Buc Alboucq, Lacey
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I don't know that I've made or received an e-mail blunder but I am curious-to-concerned about another aspect of this method of communication.
BE (before e-mail) we "wrote" to one another about matters important, trivial, general and personal - and often by hand. A handwritten note today is something to appreciate and keep.
We, and several other recipients at the same time, now receive birth, birthday, marriage and death announcements by electronic, rather than postal, transmission. And we respond in kind. It's not even frowned upon as "bad manners" by most people.
But what about the historical, cultural loss? What will the future's researchers rely upon to understand our daily lives and the elements that were important to us - important enough to put in writing.
I often think about the lovely, simple letters between my grandmother and those of her siblings who did not pioneer the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1800s.
Is e-mail another aspect of our throw-away society? Unfortunately, I think it is.
- Diane Skov, Lacey
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I have had e-mail for many, many years. Before the "Internet" I belonged to BBS systems (Bulletin Board Services). My first "Internet" service was AOL, which was called America Online back then, probably in the early 1990s. In about 1994, I created my first Web page on AOL, then shortly after that got my own domain (itstime.com) when a friend of my son offered to host it for me. What a great day that was for me!!
The site has grown from one page to hundreds with people all over the world reading it now.
About e-mail: When my email isn't working or my computer is being repaired, I feel almost disconnected from the world because I depend on it so much. When I'm on vacation, I have to resist the urge to check my e-mail every day.
Since I have a domain name (actually quite a few registered names now) and an active Web site, I used to have e-mail addresses posted there to make contact easier. The first person who wrote to me was from Korea! Well, before long, the spammers figured out that they could collect and sell those e-mail addresses, so I got bombarded with spam - it went up to several thousands of spam mail a day before I learned how to screen my e-mail, set up filters and change the way I manage my e-mail accounts.
For the past five years or so, I have used a product called Mailwasher Pro to screen my e-mail before I download it to my computer. It does a great job and I couldn't function without it.
My current e-mail services - Earthlink and Comcast - have spam mail filters that pull off a lot of the spam, so that I now am only getting a very small amount coming into Mailwasher. I have many e-mail addresses because I support several pro bono clients, and have two ISP services to provide backups.
I depend on e-mail to stay in touch with family and friends, to keep up with many discussion lists of interest, to get software and hardware support, and to manage communications from my Web site readers. I also have a mailing list of people who read my Web site and send out monthly e-mails when the new monthly newsletter topic is posted. I use a program called World Merge to manage that process.
I also manage a Web site for my church; we use a service from icontact.com to sent out weekly e-mails and keep the mailing list up to date.
I manage my personal e-mail by creating many filters (using Thunderbird), so that each e-mail can be automatically placed into a separate folder depending on who it is from or the subject. (Note: Microsoft Outlook, which is used by many people and businesses, has very limited support for filtering e-mail to the extent that I do it.)
For example, for the e-mail lists I belong to, each one is filtered into its own sub-folder. For family, I have a folder for each of my children. For friends that I communicate with regularly, each also has
a separate folder. I have many other folders - for example, those related to computer support, web domain correspondence, etc. I have dozens and dozens of filters and create new ones all the time to help me stay organized. The nice thing about the filters is that I can immediately see if I have e-mail from my children without wading through 50 emails; I can wait to read the discussion lists when I have more time, or quickly see when something comes in that is not filtered and could be important. I use the same approach at work (using Outlook) to quickly see which folder has e-mail and which might be most important to respond to quickly. Obviously, certain people have higher priority.
At home I have a professional-strength firewall (Zone Alarm Pro) and strong virus software (Trend Micro Internet Security) running to protect my system from hackers, crackers, and other malware folks.
Yes, I've accidentally sent e-mail to the wrong person. Once I was consulting with a company and went send an e-mail to the company that I was sub-contracting for. When I typed a few letters of the person's name, Outlook automatically grabbed someone else with the same few letters and sent off the e-mail before I could stop it. I had to report that mistake to my client company as it was a high-security facility and let the other person know that they should delete it right away without opening it. I quickly learned to change the settings in Outlook not to automatically assume the name without my verification.
I have also received e-mail from people who made similar mistakes.
It happens fairly regularly now since I work where there is someone else with a similar name. I've also seen many times where people misinterpret messages either what I've said or what other people have said, and got offended or even angry. I think this is getting much better in recent years as people are learning more about "netiquette" (email etiquette) and what should be said or not said via e-mail. There is still a ways to go in that regard.
- Barbara Taylor, Lacey
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My first love will always be pen and paper, and I'm one of a rare breed who writes letters, often, to friends and family. However, I love the ease of e-mail and the instant contact it provides. I've been online forever with friends sharing photos and celebrations to heart-breaking news. When my stepson, Shawn, was in Iraq, e-mails back and forth were invaluable, knowing he was OK. I use e-mail on a Sunday morning to remind myself of something I need to jump on at work first thing Monday, or send a note late at night of information to follow up on the next day. It's a marvelous tool.
E-mail is fast, it's easy - more a part of my day than the telephone. I have more control with e-mail - when to read them, when to respond, how much or how little detail to share. If I want to send an electronic hug at 5:30 in the morning to someone, I can. It's not intrusive or annoying.
I have to say typing seems to be a second language for many people. But I look at it the same if someone had sloppy handwriting: Sometimes you have to read through the whole thing to get the message because a few words don't make sense. There's no excuse to leave the Cap Lock on, though, and shout through your entire e-mail. I'd rather read something with no capitals, if people are allergic to the shift key, than an all-cap e-mail. And the younger generations are more comfortable with texting, today's keyboard shorthand. Without e-mail, I would never hear from the teenagers in my family.
E-mail? Gotta love it.
- Kathleen Shaputis, Olympia
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I first got an e-mail account in 1987. I knew only two other people who had e-mail at that time. I now get about 30 to 50 e-mails a day, and I have about 8,000 e-mail addresses in my address book. So, in 20 years, I've learned a thing or two about e-mail.
I am a home-based business, and e-mail is my number one connection to clients and business associates, as well as to family and friends. I spend at least an hour or more on it every day. I love the immediacy of it, the conversational feel of it, and the fact that when I'm busy, it doesn't interrupt me like the telephone does. It allows me to easily do business with people anywhere in the world.
I never keep e-mails or my address book on some ISP's server. I keep it all on my own computer in Outlook Express. I create separate file folders in Outlook Express for all the different people with whom I correspond. I make sure that I always include all the text of a previous message when I respond to an e-mail, because otherwise I can't remember everything that's been said and, with clients in particular, I like to have a very strong paper trail, even if it's a virtual one. As e-mails are sent and received on the same topic, I automatically delete the previous one so that I don't end up with hundreds or even thousands of e-mails sitting around. I archive e-mails only if they contain important information that I may need to refer to in the future.
I never open or respond to e-mails that come from unknown senders with subject lines such as "fragility" or "ragged" or any line that does not reflect a legitimate communication. I never respond to e-mails that say I've won a lottery. I never respond to e-mails that purport to be from some poor widow or her "solicitor" in a foreign country asking me to launder their money for a fee (they never use those words, but that's what they're asking).
I never reply to or click on any links in e-mails that appear to come from PayPal, eBay, my bank, my insurance company, etc. Instead, I go straight to their Web sites and check my account to make sure everything is all right. Those e-mails are almost always fraudulent - from someone who is "phishing" for personal identity information. I also don't open forwarded attachments.
I don't get much spam because I never respond to those offers that pop up saying you've won a free iPOD or free digital camera. I learned the hard way a long time ago that they have you take surveys and you end up getting bombarded with hundreds of spam-type e-mails as a result.
I don't use spam filters because there are some legitimate marketers out there who are carefully targeting certain kinds of buyers, and they are just attempting to do business, to sell something. If I don't want what they have to sell, I simply ask to be removed from their list or I delete their e-mail if they don't offer an unsubscribe option.
I send e-mails to my opt-in marketing list about six times a year. I always give the recipients the option to unsubscribe or be removed from the list. I never share my list or give it to anyone else, as you never know who might ultimately end up with it and what they might send to that list (I'm not willing to unwittingly sic a pornographer or phisher on my subscribers).