Early last week a man by the name of Gabe Ford sent a mass emailing to a large segment of Clarkson University’s student body, and all hell broke loose. The email, which was sent to a carefully selected group of male students, invited them to be part of a new chapter of the Sigma Nu fraternity. Unfortunately, Mr. Ford seems to be unaware of the BCC: function and this is what happened as a result:

The email sent by Ford triggered an avalanche of responses, beginning with a message from one student who replied to the entire mailing list declining Ford’s offer. This began a cavalcade of emails which quickly took the form of an internet forum. Many responders expressed an interest to be dropped from the mailing list while others seized the opportunity to perpetuate a series of internet memes and hold conversations by replying to all of the original recipients. By 8:44 p.m. the following day, 75 related emails had been sent.

The school claims that since student email addresses are listed in the campus directory, there was no breach of privacy. I think this example shows again why it’s so important to use the BCC: field when sending mass emailings of any kind.

Of course this isn’t always a guarantee that things won’t get out of hand. When dealing with a mailing list you have to be prepared for everything. Always have easily accessible instructions on how to unsubscribe from mailings, and if you need to ask for personal info of any kind, make it clear it should be sent to you via your email address, not the list’s. Just today on a professional list that I am a member of the administrator asked everyone to send in their postal addresses (there was a good reason for his needing the info), but forgot that part. As a result I received the postal addresses of nearly 100 of my fellow list members! Oops!