My Email Boo Boo

Posted on by Jolene

I know it’s no big deal but I’d like to blog about it.

Two nights ago, my dad forwarded the missing Dora email to me and I thought, “Wow, this only happened hours ago.” and so I forwarded it to everyone I’ve ever came into contact with on my gmail.

There were over 600+ contacts in my gmail. I don’t even know how I’ve managed to accumulate so many contacts. Be it companies I’ve asked sponsorship from(dental dinner), friends, blog readers, distant relatives or even lecturers who passed me their email addresses, I didn’t care. I just sent the email out to everyone.

I had to divide my contacts into two sets. For the first batch, I carelessly added everyone into the “To” column of the email thus allowing everyone else to see the list of emails.

I received a couple of angry emails later on about how I should have used the BCC function instead. I KNOW. I used it for the second batch of emails. The first one was a careless mistake. I don’t mind to be politely told off. But sometimes angry emails have the same effect as flamers who leave unpleasant comments on blogs.

Here’s one of the emails that I felt was kind of rude:

“Jolene,

I know the email you forwarded was urgent and you may not have thought through your actions when you forwarded it to *everyone* on your list.

But please observe the basic security measures in forwarding emails. It is not advisable to include everyone in the CC section of your forwards as this helps phishing activities. Please put them under the BCC section.

I do not appreciate having my email clogged with spam as a result of your careless actions.

Thank you.

p/s: Dora is safe as of late afternoon yesterday, please check your facts before forwarding unnecessarily. ”

Obviously I’m a little embarrassed that I subjected my contacts to spam and email phishing. However, how much spam can I submit people to? Another penis enlargement email won’t make a difference to your inbox. Furthermore, the person who sent the above email was merely using an address that she used as an admin email for her website. It’s not even a personal email.

Yeah, so sue me if I think it’s a woman. The tone of the email sounded bitchy.

Anyway, I wrote an email to apologize for my mistake(and also to a few others) and told her not to be so sarcastic. Fine, it’s my bad on the BCC part.

Naturally, I felt that I owed an apology to EVERYONE I sent the email out to by exposing their email addresses like that.

So I sent out an email that read:

“Hello everyone… at least those I forwarded the lost Glenmarie girl email to.

I received a few angry email replies that pretty much ruined my day for not using the BCC function when sending out that forwarded email message.

I’m extremely sorry for my carelessness and I promise it won’t happen again. I’d feel terrible if I were to, again, subject any of you to email phishing or spam and stuff like that.

And the girl has been found btw.

I was also sarcastically told to check my facts properly before sending the email. ya as if that’s the first thought in my head when I received the email about the girl who was lost only hours ago.

I honestly thought it was the best way to just send it to anyone i’ve ever corresponded with on Gmail for maximum effect on| the kidnap case.

Sorry for the inconvenience that I’ve caused anyone.”

I felt better after sending my note of apology to my contacts.

However, what’s even more amazing is the amount of emails I’ve received from my contacts saying how it doesn’t matter to them if I used the “to” function or the “bcc” function and that it’s not a problem at all to them. I didn’t know a simple apology can result in so much. Makes me kind of happy, in a way.

I even received an email from my Uncle who hardly goes online!

What’s even more interesting was when Timothy called me while I was on the bus(ya. I’m back in Subang. DON’T let me see the name “Holidays Coach” or I will set that bus on fire. 7 hours to come back from Kedah. What the fuck.) and asked me to cheer up and that he didn’t even mind that I subjected him and the rest of the Nuffnang people to spam. He was telling me that he and the entire team received an email from a certain ‘self declared problogger’ who seemed more like spam, trying to get people to visit his wedding site. I think it was my fault that this problogger got to them. Or I might be wrong, Apparently this problogger has been trying to make his wedding fully sponsored and in return the companies that sponsor him will get publicity. Right. The guy even emailed me and left multiple comments on my blog before asking me for the contact of the Estee Lauder PR as I’ve received free products from them before to review.

He wanted to get free products for his wife too prior to their wedding day. Honestly, wtf. If you love your wife, SPEND money lah!! I’d be embarrassed to marry such a man. So kiamsiap.

At first I denied his request and then he emailed me and asked me if I know who he is. I don’t care if he’s famous. If I’ve not heard of his name before, he’s probably a nobody. I’m embarrassed to admit that after awhile I gave in and gave him the PR’s email(I’m sorry, J.) because I thought in a way he does love his wife enough to do something. Just not the right way.

Anyway, moving on… yeah, so sending out that simple email resulted in a torrent of emails, a concern phone call and some immediate MSN messages. Interesting..

I’ve learned my lesson. All I wanted was to provide some community effort for the kidnapping case.

At least I’m not one of those people who are so afraid to die at 12 noon the next day. I think the last “You will find your true love!” forwarded email I sent out was back in form1. At that time I actually looked forward to receiving them because the graphics were so pretty and I was touched that someone cared enough to include me in their list of emails. *rolls eyes*

Sorry for being tardy in my comments. Will reply them as soon as I can(me, procrastinator. sorry,sorry.)! Thanks ya.

18 thoughts on “My Email Boo Boo”

  1. Don’t worry Jolene, a simply email with the email addresses in the CC section won’t KILL some one life. They are just being paranoid and childish at the same time by sending you rude emails. Anyway, I didn’t receive your forwarded email regarding to that incident…

    Shame on the guy who keep bugging you, let me remind you that HE CANNOT represent us as a typical Malaysian Guy.. I am being very generous one ok.. LOL! Been sending stuff back to Malaysia from UK also.. hehe…

    jo: erm i don’t know if i sent you emails before?:) If not, then that’s why.

    haha… well, glad to know it’s the minority.
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  2. While I think it’s a nice gesture to BCC people in mails like this, I also think it was rather silly to throw a really unnecessary tantrum for NOT BCC-ing.

    Even if you did BCC him/her, it won’t stop spam from going to his Inbox. That is something that that person will just have to live with.

    Btw, who’s that problogger la? (I’ve got this comment whereby this blogger just copied and pasted my whole entry – on the wedding preparation – and dumped it into his/her site which is loaded with advertising stuff. Somewhat like Minishorts. =.= )

    jo: yeah, somemore it wasn’t even a personal email account u know? ;(

    Ughhh.. i think we can all conclude it’s the same guy. but he sounds quite apologetic now. hm.

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  4. geez.. some people have got to stop being so anal. and you had the best of intentions anyway since you wanted to send the email out asap and sorry lar but some people dont hv time to think about your precious inbox getting flooded with spam when another life might be at stake. i’m not complaining here. hmph..

    haha i read about that dude who wants the whole world but him to sponsor his wedding. ridiculous! have some dignity for your own wedding, for crying out loud. (though it might make a good bedtime story for his kids in the future)

    jo: hehehe thanks dear..:D ya. with all these messages, it’s hard to feel upset anymore 😀

    ya man!! .. hahaha, well, i always think that it’s wise to save up for your own wedding. furthermore, being chinese should be an advantage with all the red packets that can cover for the dinner.
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  5. heyaz dear, even my brother from cherating forwarded it thru facebook! Dora must be lucky to have so many strangers care for her!

    anyway, the police commented on the star that such forwarding might make the situation worse, wonder to what extent is that statement true =)

    CK

    jo: hehe hey dear. yeah, she really is. 🙂 i didn’t read that one:( why so stupid!
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  6. I’m embarrassed to say that I still have friends who forward me stuff.

    There’s this stupid girl under me in the photography team who keeps emailing me christian lessons.

    I mean wtf.

    jo: lol!! of all people to forward christian stuffs too:) this girl doesn’t know her place. 
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  7. I know this is a really serious matter…but whenever I hear the name Dora, I keep thinking Nickelodeon character Dora the Explorer and her monkey.

    Shit happens lah.

    I think I heard of the couple that wanted their wedding sponsored by online advertisers and what not. Very devious, haha..

    jo: issit the one with Darwin the monkey? lol, yeah, i mean it’s all very well but when they start spamming our inboxs…that’s not quite good. 
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  8. Let’s forget about the email boo-boo, which is not as far as I am concerned cos it shows the caring side of you.

    But oh boy! That ‘problogger’ wan hor, niamah, I also got his mail and I have never contacted him or left my email on his site (which I am not sure which is the site). I wonder where he got my email too. Niamah, like I give a shit who is getting married to who.

    jo: hahha i know it does;P just upset that some people have to be so rude!

    hhahha.. yah, i mean getting married is such a beautiful thing. but if you have to impose it on total strangers…..erm?!?
    –

  9. See? You’ve got so many friends who don’t care whether emails like that are BCC-ed or not 😀

    jo: hahha i know!! *blessed*
    –

  10. Didn’t really give a crap actually.

    Actually, I didn’t even notice if the mail you sent me had the names of other people.

    jo: hey Vincent! 😀 You dropped by!! i guess some people are extremely anal. 🙁
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  11. It’s all good Jolene. I have observed an exact same situation before whereby a person sent an email and had all his recipients (including me) listed in the To: field. Some fellar did a Reply to All and pointed out that he should have BCC-ed us all instead. I was quiet the whole time and just observed the exchange of words. So this is deja vu ;p

    Don’t worry about the boo-boo (and the angry responses). It’s a very small issue anyway.

    Oh I received an email from that so-called problogger who blogs about wedding stuff too. I was thinking, “WTH!?”. Then I just closed the email terus :p (At least I didn’t report him as spam, because I know he’s not a spammer. He’s just a blogger – I wouldn’t call him a pro – trying to market his idea). All brilliant entrepreneurs began with an idea – so let this guy have his chance lah.

    jo: aha..wooo, there was an exchange of words?

    damnit, this shows that I’ve really subjected my peers to the spammy ways of this man. yeah, but he’s approaching all the wrong people.

    –

  12. jolene, don’t listen to any craps they say about spam.
    because what you had emailed are not SPAM at all.
    SPAMs are for people seeking for unnecessary attention, but you’re purely showing your concern for the kidnapped girl.

    Hey, I’d love to have everyone circulate the news and have a watch out if something unfortunate happens on me one day [choi! touch wood!].

    hugs!

    jo: thanks dear:) yeah, we all were:\ just trying our best to help right?

    hahaha… i do sometimes wonder what happens if I die one day. What would people say?
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  13. honestly, i still don’t know the CC and BCC functions in email. too bad someone chose to be so bitchy abt it. maybe she should get a better email provider which effectively sorts out spam for her. :p

    jo: hehe BCC is blind carbon copy..meaning the emails u put in, none of the recipients can see it, unlike the normal ‘to’ and the ‘cc’. 
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  15. i got the email from the problogger promoting his wedding too. -_- . i read in some interview he has 500 hits a day. that’s quite little lor, to be a “problogger”. i don’t know if he is trying to be a cheapskate, or if he REALLY thinks his idea is an ingenius one.

    jo: aiyoh.. sorry..:( hahaha well at leas the gets more than me. if he wants to earn money to fund his wedding, sign up with a blog advertising network lah. 
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  16. Your email is not SPAM and cheer up aight. People simply want to find fault with others.

    jo: thanks Dylan:) I know. 
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  18. in the haste of things, I got carried away and did mass email. I hope you can forgive me for this dumb mistake. I will not repeat it again.

    jo: we certainly hope so. it was not professional at all. 
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