Wordsupply: Writing, Publishing, and Social Media Services » E-news http://wordsupply.com Writing, Publishing, and Social Media Services Sun, 02 May 2010 10:51:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Ten Years Later, Mass E-Mail Is Still Perilous http://wordsupply.com/2009/02/27/ten-years-later-mass-e-mail-is-still-perilous/ http://wordsupply.com/2009/02/27/ten-years-later-mass-e-mail-is-still-perilous/#comments Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:27:02 +0000 David McClintock http://wordsupply.com/blog/?p=7 In December 1999 (almost ten years ago), I wrote a piece about e-mail newsletters, for the Publishers Marketing Association’s newsletter (now called The Independent, by the org now called the Independent Book Publishers Association, http://www.ibpa-online.org).

“The Promise and Pitfalls of E-mail Newsletters” told the story of Paul and Freddie, small press editors who accidentally sent a newsletter with recipients exposed in the To field rather than hidden in the BCC field. Worse, they accidentally sent an apology e-mail three times.

As I refresh the Wordsupply site, I was tempted to archive this essay. Trouble with e-mail newsletters seems so quaint now.

But then, last week, one of the most talked-about Web 2.0 start-ups misfired a mass e-mail. (No point in mentioning its name – the point is that the times have not changed.)

Sending an HR rejection e-mail, the company accidentally revealed all recipients in the To field – including some who no doubt were applying confidentially. (The CEO apologized by e-mail – tactfully, and only once :o)

No matter how technologically sophisticated we become, we’re prone to human error. The same management safeguards apply – adding oversight that’s commensurate with the risk of misfiring the message. As our tools get more powerful, that risk will increase.

As I wrote in that pre-dot-com-bomb piece, I have certainly suffered my own communications doozies, and will again, for sure. In the meantime, I will leave that essay online.

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