by Angela Smith
Have you ever gotten an unsolicited e-mail message (UCE)? Well, unless you signed on to the Internet using your e-mail account about 30 seconds ago, chances are that you have.
Unsolicited, 'junk' e-mail is almost the same thing as getting junk mail in your mailbox at home. There are two main differences though.
- It cost the sender only pennies to distribute hundreds or thousands of these messages.
- 2. It can cost the receiver more to receive it then it did for the sender to send it.
Number 1, above, is self-explanatory. Number 2, however, is a little harder to understand for those who swear by unsolicited e-mail, which is often called 'bulk' e-mail and 'spamming'.
So here is an explanation that everyone should understand. Unless you have totally 'FREE' access to your e-mail, that is:
- you don't pay for access.
- you don't pay a phone bill.
- you don't pay an electric bill.
then this form of e-mail costs the receiver more than it costs the sender. In some instances, such as on AOL and other online subscription services, it can cost you big time. Every single minute a subscriber is online using these services costs them $$$$.
The time it takes to open a message and just scan it quickly to determine if you will read it, respond to it or delete it may not seem like much, but when you add up all those messages at the end of the month, they can really hurt your pocket book.
Articles like this one have been written by the hundreds, perhaps the thousands, and still 'junk' e-mail continues. Can we rid ourselves of it? My guess is no! There are software packages created almost every day, trying to block unsolicited e-mail. And almost every day a software package to negate them is created as well.
Is it right or wrong? I only know it breaks every rule of 'netiquette' according to many people on the Internet. But to be honest, some unsolicited e-mail I have received personally has been very valuable; some has been a total waste of my time and effort.
I personally do not believe in using unsolicited e-mail for any reason. I hope, as the Net matures, that others will see the wisdom in using e-mail in a responsible manner.
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ANGELA SMITH - World Wide Information Outlet- http://certificate.net/wwio/
As a Web Host and Designer with more that 5 years experience online and nearly 20 years experience in management off line, Angela heads up World Wide Information Outlet in an effort to give something back to the Internet and it's community by providing free content for anyone who wants it. Exciting things are happening at WWIO. Just watch us as we make history.