Six Tips for Overwhelming Forwarded Email

The good luck totem; happy friendship day; the latest political joke and a notice for your spiritual check up; they all find their way through email superhighways and arrive perky and presumptive to your in-box. Don't stress, there are ways to deal with the issue.

For Those Who Hate Forwards

You know who you are. You've resorted to deleting any email with Fwd or Fw in the subject line. Not a bad idea, but if you have a large number of friends the process could be time consuming. Here are a couple of ideas:

1. Take advantage of the Rules tool in your email program. Create a rule that moves all mail containing fwd or fw in the subject line to the trash. Microsoft Entourage is one program that makes creating rules easy.

2. Simply ask your friends to exclude you from their mailings. Sounds easier than it is. We don't want to hurt our friend's feelings but they can't change a behavior you don't like unless you let them know it bothers you.

For Those Who Prefer Forwards in Small Doses

The majority finds humor and inspiration from the occasional forwarded email. Funny jokes (and some not so funny) and inspirational stories circle the cyber highway for years. If you want to control the amount of time spent reading these emails, here are a couple of suggestions.

3. Utilize folders to organize your in-box and create a folder just for forwards. The rules tool comes in handy here. Create a rule that moves all mail containing fwd or fw to the forwards folder. This will allow you to focus on the more important business email and when you have a few moments for fun, you can open your newly created folder and start reading.

4. If there are certain types of emails you find unappealing, set up a rule or filter to move them to the trash. For instance, if you don't like political messages set up a rule using keywords such as 'politics', 'O'Bama' or 'McCain' and you'll never set eyes on such emails again.

For Those Who Adore Forwarded Email

We've all learned things from forwards and received a great deal of laughter from them. There are folks that wouldn't dream of deleting a message with fwd for fw in the subject line. However, you could be considered a nuisance if you don't use a bit of discretion. These two suggestions could save a few friendships.

5. Check the validity of emails. Those stories about the little girl with cancer or what one military officer did can be compelling and inspiring but they aren't all true. Before sending that message to your friends, use Snopes.com or Truthorfiction.com to determine their truthfulness. The owners of these sites do nothing more than investigate the claims made in emails and they'll let you know if they're true or not. If they're only half true, they'll decipher it for you.

6. Ask your email buddies if they want to be included when you send out a forward. You can create a group email with all the addresses of those who don't mind receiving them, that way you won't accidentally add someone that hates them.

With a little time to set up some rules in your email program and a bit of communication with your email friends, forwarded emails can be easier to manage.