The lighter (or darker?) side of email

[duncan drennan]

There is a really funny article on email madness on MoneyWeb—as with most amusing things, the funniest are the ones that are true, and this email article is. It is really worth a read—both for the chuckle, and some introspective thinking on how we abuse email systems.

Once upon a time, being CC'd on something meant you needed to know it but didn't need to respond. Now, it tends to mean you're about to be bored senseless by a long string of messages you didn't need to receive.

Full article on MoneyWeb

[Dave A]

I found the article quite serious, really. This part in particular struck a chord with me:

The other place we need an "Are You Sure?" button is when hitting Reply All. If you've ever been trapped in clueless Reply Alls to a list and the inevitable aftershock of people Replying All to demand that people stop Replying All, enough said.

I've been trapped in these Reply All "converations" trying to get business done. A hopelessly inefficient way of conducting online discussion IMHO. There is no flow. If you've ever attended a meeting where there is a main discussion and various little groupings are having side discussions at the same time, this is the internet equivalent.

I see massive potential for the private forum format for this purpose. And having access to just such a facility I can report that it works very well, except in getting universal uptake from the entire group. There tends to always be one or two who just don't see the point and stubbornly keep trying to debate points using that infernal "email to all and sundry" method.