Use BCC By Cut Down On Reply Spam

PC World runs down three lessons they’ve learned about containing the email beast, and at least one of them is worth contemplating for your next multi-recipient email. In short, BCC isn’t just a privacy tool, but a reply-all killer.

Thomas, a federal government worker, uses BCC more often than not when addressing multiple recipients. In most cases, nobody cares who else is addressed on the message, and in almost every case, it prevents over-eager reply senders from hitting everybody with needless retorts.

Use them for messages with many addressees and that will cut down on all the “Me too” responses from people who stupidly hit the “reply all” button before sending their worthless e-mail. One person hits reply all, another 29 send a message about the mistake, and you suddenly have 212 messages when only one was necessary.

Basic, for sure, but it’s a good refresher,or a small hack if you weren’t already using BCC to your advantage. The same article, though, agrees with our own advice on BCC disasters—don’t blind carbon copy anyone who you want to remain truly hidden, because their reply could hit anyone you’ve carbon-copied in a “non-blind” way. So if you’re aggravated by email waste but nervous about an office faux pas, BCC everyone who deserves to have a copy, and keep everyone else out of it.

Three Tips for More Effective E-mailing [PC World]