The Mortgage Daily

It's hard to imagine life without email. How did we do business before? But you have to admit that wading through the "junk" that's mixed in with the valued and important can be a daunting task, and much of that "junk" comes from our friends and co-workers.  It's time we had a "Miss Manners" of email Netiquette.  Over the next few days I'm going to share some ways we can make sure that we are not part of the problem.

Courtesy of PC Magazine:

1. Beware of hoaxes
People have the best intentions when forwarding dire warnings about the latest computer virus, telemarketer con jobs, extreme gas prices, and whatever chicanery the current political administration is trying to pull. The problem: The vast majority of e-mail about such topics is utter fiction.

We implore you: Whenever the opportunity strikes to pass on some juicy tale of woe that has hit your inbox, first visit Snopes.com. This is the Internet's master repository of what is a hoax and what isn't. Bookmark the site. Visit it and do a search. Whatever outrageous message you just received may, in fact, be only an urban legend. Other sites to check: The AFU & Urban Legends Archive and The Straight Dope.

2. Don't perpetuate pointlessness
Here's news you may not believe: Most people don't necessarily share your sense of humor. Or your belief in chain letters that can cause bad luck involving your reproductive organs.

Your friends and family are too polite to ask you to stop, and everyone else is far too busy dealing with important messages to want to wade through that nonsense. They all know to hit the delete key, but that doesn't mean receiving these messages isn't annoying. At the very least, ask your recepients - they may love the latest and greatest joke - but they may be happy to say "please stop."  Give them the option.

Tomorrow I'll have more .....