The Dangers Of The CC:
I hope that this column generally provides our readers with some practical advice about the ever-evolving digital world.
But this column will be more about getting something off my chest.
The thorn in my side today is the often over- and mis-used cc: line in e-mails.
Used properly, a cc should keep someone in the loop who is only tangentially involved in the topic of the e-mail.
But what I often see in a business setting is people using the cc: line without any thought whatsoever, or worse, with corporate espionage in mind.
Below I’ve outlined the three most common things I think people should avoid the next time they are tempted to type an address next to cc:.
The Mystery CC:
I’m a fairly nosey person (not a bad trait for a reporter), but when it comes to e-mail, I only want to know what I need to know. I get an inordinate amount of e-mail as it is, most of which is completely useless. And, to be fair, I send my fair share of useless missives. But, when someone cc’s me on a topic that has little relevance to me, I get a little cranky.
I won’t name names here, but I’ve worked with folks who seemed to just randomly pick people to cc: on an e-mail as if they were playing some form of co-worker roulette. Perhaps they were trying to make friends by including as many people as possible in their electronic ramblings. In my mind, it’s just an inconvenience, not a friendly gesture.
The Angry CC:
Everyone has seen one of these pop into their inbox. They typically come as a result of some minor disagreement with a co-worker or even a customer. But with the “angry cc:” what was a tense e-mail exchange is ratcheted up to DEFCON 1 because your boss (or your boss’s boss in the most egregious of cases) has been cc’d.
It’s just a terrible feeling to be on the receiving end of one of these. Now, you not only have to deal with the disagreement at hand, but you have to defend yourself to the boss, whose sense of the issue is distorted by a lack of context. The angry cc: is a mean and nasty thing to do. If you are going to engage in corporate sabotage, I say do it verbally. Knock on your boss’s door and complain. Don’t leave an electronic paper trail by using the cc: line inappropriately.
The Dangerous BCC:
Last but not least, we have what I call the “dangerous bcc." In my book, the bcc: line (or blind carbon copy) is to be used sparingly or not at all. It allows you to cc: someone on an e-mail without the recipient realizing it. It might seem harmless, but I’ve seen people receive an e-mail as a bcc: recipient without realizing it. Then, when they mention what they read in the e-mail, the main recipient is suddenly suspicious that people in the office have been sneaking around talking behind his or her back.
The bcc: line is good for mass e-mailing because it keeps the recipients addresses private. But be careful about secretly including someone in a mailing. It might make you look foolish — or worse.
Got news for our Digital Diva column? E-mail Christina H. Davis at cdavis@wbjournal.com.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments