General Etiquette > All In A Day's Work
Urban Legends E-mail from Co-workers
PrettyPinkPost-its:
Quite frequently, co-workers feel the need to forward those stupid urban legends e-mails to everyone in the building. Examples are the "gang members will shoot you if you flash your headlights at them" and "thugs will wait under your car and slash your ankles at the mall." Today, I got the old "don't return hotel key cards -- they contain your name, address, and credit card number on them. Anyone can retrieve that data with a simple scanning device!"
My response is to take 5 seconds to find a credible link which states these things are false and send it to the co-worker. My husband thinks this is rude. He says there's no harm in it, just delete it and go on. However, most of the people who send this stuff I think really believe that they are "warning" others of potentially hazardous situations.
My question is: Do you delete these annoying e-mails and go on, or do you try to let the person know the information is incorrect?
Gina
Madd Hatter:
If I got those from a friend/family member, I would send a link saying that it wasn't true. For co-workers, I would just delete it unless it really gets out of hand (lots everyday). If it gets out of hand, I would email the co-worker back and say that you thank them for the information, but would no longer wish to recieve any more emails like that. Try to be polite, but firm.
EvilAlice:
I don't think it's rude to correct misinformation. People are spreading this info because, presumably, they care about it. So they should care enough to know that it's false, right? That's why I always reply with a Snopes link and a brief line like, "Actually this isn't true, check out the link."
OK that's the polite reason why I do that. The real reason is, just because Aunt Madge or CoWorker B has too much time on their hands and nothing better to do than forward every bit of nonsense that comes into their box, doesn't mean they should think that everyone is happy to receive the glurge.
I get the occasional snitty reply that says basically "Oooh. Didn't mean to BOTHER you." And I think, "Well, you did. Now you know not to do it again."
JeanFromBNA:
If I know the sender fairly well, I send them a link to Snopes. If not, then the post is just deleted. There's an urban legend about a terminally ill child that wants to get into the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest collection of busines cards. A good client had sent letters asking all to participate. I felt very sorry for them, but still sent the Snopes link. That kind of nonsense discourages real generosity.
stanthedevil:
I have to admit when it starts to get out of control, I start using the "reply all" button. Then I alter the title to read This is a HOAX: <insert urban legend here>! I copy and paste the appropriate link from Snopes.com and send my little e-mail out to start spreading truth instead of fiction. I've found that it never takes more than three times to get the e-mails to stop.
(This is after asking the person multiple times to stop forwarding me things.)
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