Declutter Your Inbox by Forwarding Responsibly

Have you been duped by an email hoax - urging you to sign a petition, promising money or a product, or predicting dire circumstances if you don't forward the email? I know I have!

Here are some tips from Hoax-Slayer:

1. If someone uses overly-emotive language, it is usually a hoax.

2. Signing an online petition is rarely effective or legitimate, and it puts your information out there for others to use in scamming operations. It's far more effective to write a letter yourself to the appropriate person or organization.

3. If you do forward, remove all previous email addresses and ask your recipients to remove yours before forwarding. Otherwise, your email address and those of previous recipients will be passed on to unknown recipients, increasing the likelihood of your address being misused.

Better yet, send forwards using the blind copy option (send the email to yourself, with your forwarding list in the Bcc section - just below the "from" line on your email). This way, your recipients will not see each others' email addresses.

4. To avoid irritating your friends, ask their permission before adding them to your "forward list."

5. If you receive unsolicited forwards from your friends and you'd rather not, politely ask to be removed from their forwarding lists. Others have told me that they receive scores of emails from the same person each day! What a time-waster, if you're not interested.

6. Before forwarding a questionable email, check it out at Hoax-Slayer. I found Hoax-Slayer to be more family-friendly than Snopes, especially if your kids will be using it.

More on email:
Decluttering and Organizing Your Email
A Very Simple Filing System for Email and Paper
Trivial and Strategic Interruptions