Stop email attachment abuse!
I love my friends and family dearly. And I really like receiving funny emails and jokes from them. It shows they are thinking of me! They want to stay in touch!
But I run a business, and sometimes an email with a 10mg video attachment of sweet Aunt Sally’s cat can prevent me from getting fast access to more pressing business email.
photo credit: Conor Lawless
Email Attachment Abuse
For years, I’ve tried to re-train my “email attachment abusive” friends — with zero success.
In 2006, I even created a 5 minute audio podcast explaining email attachment netiquette. It worked for about 3 months.
Oh, I could always block abusers for their bad behavior — but I really DO want to keep the lines of communication open with Aunt Sally and Uncle Bob!
photo credit: ™bluhousworker
Some of my business pals suggest that I give out separate email addresses — just for my gravest abusers. But that makes me work extra hard. Further, this only enables their unwittingly bad email manners — and allows abusers to spread their abuse to others!
Stop Enabling Today!
So today, I’m trying something new. We’ll see how it works.
This is what I did, in two easy steps:
- I set up my inbox rules to automatically delete any email that hits my server that is over a certain size. (I’m not going to publish the size, because abusers can be sneaky — they might want to see just how much they can get away with!
- I also set my inbox rule to automatically reply with the following message:
I’m sorry, but the email you sent me contained a huge attachment, so I’m not accepting it.
If you want to share a huge file with me (or friends, family, and colleagues that you care about!) please consider using a free service like www.filemail.com instead of sending an attachment.
It’s not just safer — it’s also good 21st century “netiquette”.
Why is this practice more courteous than sending a big attachment?
1. Sending huge attachments chews up email server bandwidth. A huge file can block or delay urgent business email from getting through. Using a service like www.filemail.com converts your big attachment into a tiny link that I can click at my convenience.
2. Friends often want to send me huge “funny” videos and photos. I often don’t have time to view these “right away” — preferring to answer business emails first. When you upload your file to www.filemail.com — (or point to the same video at www.youtube.com for that matter!) — I get to experience your rich content when I have more time.
Thanks for understanding.
What do you think?
Will this work?
Will it end email attachment abuse?
Or will my email confuse and frighten Aunt Sally?
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