Intervention: Email Threads Are Annoying
As technology continues to advance so do the ways in which people can annoy you. One of my biggest pet peeves right now is the email thread—well, that and those damn “25 Random Things You Don’t Know About Me” blasts on FaceBook, but I digress… Email threads are like a vicious spam cycles initiated by your friends. It usually starts off innocently enough; someone sends out a mass message to a bunch likeminded folks or co-workers and that should be the end of it. But no, someone decides to be the smartass and clicks reply all instead of just hitting the original sender back direct. It’s usually all downhill from there.
Something Replier A said strikes a chord with someone in the sent list so he/she decides to reply all, too. This cascades into an overflow of responses that could go on for hours or even days when you have some Johnny-Come-Lately that missed the initial email and joins the fray mid-thought. Sometimes the actual on-going conversation is really between a smaller group or just two people, but they continue to include the rest of the innocent bystanders in the thread with their ribs and brainless banter.
Replier A: “Nah, son Harlem all day.” Replier B: “Uptown, baby, Uptown.” Replier C: “What’s for lunch?” Blah, blah, blah. It’s like a bad case of digital diarrhea that just won’t stop, because even if you reply: “Hey, talk amongst yourselves guys and leave me out of it,” no two repliers will respond to the same part of the thread at the same time and you’re forced to suffer through it until the conversation finally just dies down and fades away.
The absolute worst though is the massive mailing list thread. Those start when some party promoter or marketing company sends out an email blast and forgets to BCC (that stands for blind carbon copy not Boot Camp Clik) the recipients. Some stick in the mud decides he or she doesn’t give two flying hiccups about the promoter’s party/product and wants to be removed from this mailing list immediately. Rather than searching for the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the message or just hitting the original sender directly, smartass #2 hits reply all. This sets off another cataclysmic chain of events where random strangers young and old and both far and wide join the fray.
Replier #2: “Yeah, take me off this list, too.” Replier #542: “Who are you people and how did I get on this list?” Replier #82: “Yeah, take me off now.” Finally, Replier #68 makes some sense and writes: “If people just stop replying all, this thread will end.” But the message falls on deaf ears, and by time it’s all said and done, you’re left with 856 emails in your inbox all because some idiot didn’t BCC the message and a bunch of other fools hit reply all.
Message to wise: Always use BCC when sending out mass emails to avoid threads from even starting. If you must keep the email addresses visible for a sensible reason like setting up a meeting or something, participants should be mindful that not everyone wants to join in your random back and forths so keep your random thoughts to yourself and keep it moving.
Am I the only one that gets annoyed by email threads? Am I just being a spoiled sport? Have you ever gotten caught in one of those mailing list threads and just wondered why all these idiots asking to get off the list just didn’t stop replying? What’s the longest you’ve seen an email thread go for? Any other email pet peeves?
Speak your piece…
i didnt steal my freaky nature lol)
“Intervention: Email Threads Are Annoying”