StopForwardingUs politely tells friends, relatives to stop sending 3-year-old viral videos

StopForwardingUs is less of a service as much as it is a statement. It lets you send an anonymous, yet polite message to someone telling them to stop sending mass forwarded e-mails to friends, family members, and co-workers.

All you need to do this is their name and e-mail address and it will send the note on. The e-mail that's sent out links up to StopForwardingUs' etiquette page, which smartly points out "our correspondence reflects who we are," which might be a more subtle way of telling your brother-in-law to stop sending you e-mails about Bubble Yum bubblegum containing spider eggs.

The real problem here is that you may not always know how many other people your sender has included in their messages. If they're savvy to the blind carbon copy function on their e-mail client, you could be setting yourself up to be targeted as the person who sent the note, thus rendering the power of anonymity useless.

I've pasted the full e-mail your recipient gets after the jump--with spelling corrections.

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[via DownloadSquad and Lifehacker]

Hi Josh,

One of your friends has sent you this message from StopForwarding.Us, a Web site that allows individuals to anonymously email their friends and politely ask that they stop the habit of sending forwarded e-mails or FWDs.

Please do not forward chain letters, urban myths presented as truth, potentially offensive jokes, videos or photos without being asked or first receiving permission. If you find something that is funny and it is clean and you genuinely think the recipient will enjoy it, then forward it to that person only (not in an e-mail blast to all your friends and family) and include a personal note about why you enjoyed it and why you think they will too. Avoid sending forwards to friends or relatives that you've grown distant with. It can be frustrating for the recipient when the only correspondence you have with someone is via impersonal, unwanted e-mail.

For more tips on e-mail etiquette, visit StopForwarding.Us/etiq.html


Thank you, A Friend (via stopforwarding.us)

[satayboy]

What makes you think Josh won't just forward it?

[lacivi]

I like the concept, but I think it misses the mark a little bit. Specifically the part about "urban myths presented as truth." The bigger problem I find is that the people who forward these things actually believe the urban myths ARE true, not just "presented as true." I find that a reply-all with a snopes.com link discrediting the myth is the best remedy, albeit a little harsh on the sender. If this service could integrate in some troubleshooting tips on how to smoke out false info it might be more effective.

[the_ricochet]

Yeah I think Snopes would do well to offer a service like this specifically for all the tired scare stories that I still see circulating.

[average joe tech]

I find that a less harsh way to do this is to send the true info with the snopes or hoaxbusters link just to the sender. No reason to embarrass them by sending the correction (and the fact that they forwarded something stupid) to EVERYBODY.

[Blackmere]

That depends on the myth. If it's something that is compelling enough (like a product warning) instead of just interesting, I reply to all with the link. I may be embarrassing but at least now everyone on the list knows it's not true and you may stop an exponential number of emails from being forwarded.

I'm not sure why you would use this service really. I just send a note that says, "I get enough spam from companies. I don't need it from my friends and family. If it's not a personal note to me from you, please don't send it. Thank you."

[robertbruner]

I get this stuff from one of my relatives. I'm actually pleased that she is using a computer, and finding some enjoyment with sharing things that interest her. It only takes a second to move or delete these forwarded items that arrive daily. I really don't mind.

[Magyarmima]

I agree with Robert... life's too short to worry about this, and hey, it keeps you informed about the latest urban myth!
What if you didn't know that Bill Cosby was running for President? Where would you be then? Thanks Aunt Myrtle!

[etiahwhite]

I hate fowards...I never open them...I tell people to not even bother cuz I will not open them. My mom and I used to share a computer and she does read them and as a result of one of those emails we got a nasty virus on the computer. I actually tell people to not even bother but lately I've noticed an increase in those messages from a friend...trust me I don't need a website to do my dirty work I'll tell her myself to knock it off.

[zclayton2]

The only ones that really bother me are the "forward this to at least XYZ other people or bad things will happen." I started sending back a note that simply said "Don't threaten me with bad luck any more. If you are shareing it cause I will like it, fine. But I don't like threats." I stopped getting those and still get the other stuff from the same people.