How to email to many people, without hurting them!

Sending to many

Sometimes we may want to send mail to many people at once. We can put many addresses in the "To:" and/or "Cc:" fields, like this:

To: foo@rediffmail.com, walker@bar.edu, myfriend@yahoo.com

Cc: otherone@hotmail.com, filly@fooley.edu, ...

But — Don't do this!

Everyone can see the addresses — this is very damaging to everyone on the recipients list:
* violation of privacy !
* computer viruses !
* spamming !

It is the same as if you sent 100 people to all those people's rooms. Each with knives and guns. I know it doesn't seem that way, but believe me, it is. Just don't do it.
(The Gory Details are here)

Then, how to send to multiple people? Do this way:

All of the below can send email to many people, without showing their addresses to everyone. They are listed from easiest, to more complicated (and more powerful).

• Bcc (blind copy):
  You can send to multiple people just as easily by sending a "blind copy" (Bcc:) to many people.
  To find it:
  Start to compose your mail. Look for a field labeled "Bcc:", or look around the page for something like "Add Bcc". Or look in the "Options" or "Preferences" of your mail program.
  Then who should i make the email "To:"?
  I usually put my own email address in the "To:", since i want to get a copy of the mail anyway. But, for the name, i will put something that will describe the group of people — so they don't get too confused. So i might put like this:
  To: TibGeeks web team <walker@example.com>
• email group:
  Also, your email program probably has a feature to make something like a "group" or "contact list".
  To find it:
  Check the menus and help for your email program (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, ...)
• Google Groups and Yahoo Groups:
  These are useful if you are often sending to a large group. The only trouble with them is, that as far as i know, all the members have to have a Google/Yahoo email address.
  To find it:
  Google Groups: http://groups.google.com/
  Yahoo Groups: http://groups.yahoo.com/
• mail list:
  If you have a website, you probably have mail lists. A mail list is very useful if you have many people you send to again and again. With it you can keep track of the addresses, and have archives of your messages, and more.
  To find it:
  Check your control panel (cPanel) under the "Mail" section.
  The best and most useful mail list program is "mailman". Read more about it at http://www.washington.edu/computing/mailman/

The Gory Details!

Here's the damage:

1. Privacy: People can see and use other's addresses. This violates their privacy.
   Some people only give their main address to people they want to have it. They may have yahoo or gmail addresses that they give to other people.
2. Annoyance: Often people don't notice there are multiple addresses, and reply thinking they are replying only to you — but many people get the reply.
   In the worst case, one may accidentally send a very private communication to all these other people!
3. Political damage: There might be people on the list who would rather not be public.
   Maybe they don't want other people to know about their interest in your organisation or whatever the email happens to be about.
4. Viruses: Now, when any one of the member of this list has a computer virus, that virus, and more, will be sent to EVERY member of the list!
   Because the viruses grab addresses from the person's incoming email.
5. Spam: Also, with a computer virus, each person will get more spam, because some of these viruses grab addresses from the person's email and send them to spammers.
   I used to get about 10 spams a day. Three months ago, i got several emails from different people with many many addresses in the Cc: lines. My spams rose rapidly, and i now have to clean out over 100 spams a day! (Yes i do have a spam filter ... but any spam filter may put a good email in the spam box. So i have to scan through the headers to check for mail that i might want.)

Don't take my word for it! There are a lot of web pages about it, with more useful information:

• Sending an email to multiple recipients at About.com. About it, and how-tos.
• http://www.iamcraig.com/blind_copying.php Craig's strong words and how-tos.

Is there ever a good time to use that Cc: line?

So now you may be wondering, if it is so damaging, why do the mail programs even provide multiple To: and Cc:?

Because there are good times to use them. Among a close group of people, it is nice for the people to "see" each other, and to know what they are sharing.

Think of it like a meal with your family. When eating out at some big dinner event, you wouldn't pick food off other people's plates. But at home ... sure!

Thanks to ...

I know of course you probably don't know these things or you wouldn't have done it! I didn't always know these things either. I used to do this too! Here's how i learned about it:

• Yahel Ben-David, the Security Man, for the details of the damage that sending-to-many can do, and waking me up to this problem.
• The local Tibetans (too many to name!) who are using the different solutions, and helped me write that info.
• All the people (too many to name!) with their good questions, that helped me come up with answers.

sending_to_multiple_addresses.html
Written 15 September 2006
Revised 03 September 2011

All content not copyright by anyone else is copyright © 2003–2010 James Walker.
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