Dear Email, Please Stop

Author: Alison Spandorfer

 

About a month ago, on a Saturday night, I received an email blast from an organization. Typically, I skim these emails and then never think about them again, but this one was different. At 11:05pm, I received an email stating “leave.” This person “replied-all” to be removed from the blast list. Matters only became worse as more people responded to this message, to attempt the same thing. I was absolutely infuriated. Finally, someone wittily told everyone how to properly leave a listserv. By 1am, my inbox finally was able to go to sleep.

 

 

Where would we be without our Blue Light emails from Police Chief Kathy Zoner or Community Events blasts from Denice Cassaro?

 

 

Every morning, I wake up to at least five emails–all of varying degrees of importance. These can include CALS Chatter, a few Blackboard announcements, my morning blast of “The Skimm,” and the occasional shout-out from Cornell Career Services. I respond to the significant messages, but still, I am bombarded with spam, news alerts, and campus-wide announcements. Raise your hand if you have ever felt personally victimized by your email.

 

 

Emails are important, obviously. They are a great mechanism to quickly send messages, directions, and communicate with employers and co-workers. I like logging on to my email, but sometimes, it becomes way too much for one person to handle.

 

 

Last week, someone sent me an email with the same message to two different email accounts. This means he took the time to compose the email twice. I could tell because he spelled my name differently in both emails.

 

 

Why would anyone do this? It’s an abuse of email. How am I supposed to know which account to use to respond? Why do I need this pressure? When did email take over my life?

 

 

Let it be known: if you email more than one of my accounts, I will not respond.

 

 

The worst part about emailing is that in spite of how much it annoys me, I’m still addicted to it. I don’t know where I’d be without my gmail app sending me notifications to constantly keep me in the loop.  Whether I am receiving an email from Sephora about a new promo, from Cornell about an exciting, new addition to campus, or from a professor to clarify an assignment, email always helps keep me in place.

 

 

Email, as much as I hate you sometimes, I still love everything you can do for me.