Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A CASE OF TWO EMAIL ID's - VERY HAZARDOUS???

At the outset, I would like to state that I certainly desire your feedback on this blog entry which dwells on an issue pertinant to most of us. This post is a direct consequence of the very few but indispensable and unfortunate responses generated by this blog, though not directly aimed at it. It is also inspired and triggered by a mail of one of my school friends based overseas who wanted me to tread the fine line between a person’s official and personal mail ids and thereby tickle the readers of this blog for their reactions. 'Unfortunate' in the sense, that a handful out of my several friends who are in the loop informing them of the latest blog entries, insisted that the mail informing them such and the reader’s responses on the blog should not be routed through their official mail ids (their ‘official’ status was made known to all only now, after these ids were in circulation for ages) by clicking the ‘Reply All’ tab. If at all such responses have to come, then they should be sent only to their personal ids. They (till date only four of my cherished readers : 'The Fantastic Four') are feeling offended as the responses are obstructing their privacy or more so because of the prowling eyes of their incoming mail office servers. These servers and thereby their bosses are hawkishly watching their personal stuff. I do appreciate their concern and afford them their two cents. But as a brisk rejoinder, I would request all to read further, allowing me to put in my two pennies worth.


Nobody would disagree that emails have made the entire world’s life very comfortable and miserable at the same time. The way we communicate in the 21st century has undergone a massive change from the days when we just relied on the ubiquitous postman.The two way communication is not just fast but instant. So who needs to post a letter anymore and wait for innumerable days to get the reply, particularly when connecting with somebody who is abroad. But we all get flustered, when we find our inboxes being bombarded with spam and frivolous mails. Such mails are a hazard and cause a lot of exasperation. But do personal harmless mails from friends on work ids also have this vexing effect ? They should not, but you never know.


The main bone of contention is whether it is ethical to mail private and personal matters to work mail ids ? Certainly not. But who made them public in the first place ? The owner himself. And in my opinion, he only needs to find a solution to this self-generated problem if he feels ruffled at the sight of unofficial incoming mails, since it will never be the other way round. My experience with the e-group formed for our school silver jubilee reunion tells me that nobody does it on purpose. Atleast I and several others don’t. It happens out of one's impetuosity. Hence this blog also aims at bridging any ill-feelings between the '84 batchmates of our school e-group due to the plethora of bouncing emails. We have been friends since childhood and let us strive to remain that. Majority of the people in the Corporate sector have at least two mail ids, one official and the other personal. But when these Corporate honchos hand over their business cards or mail ids to us, you will notice that ten out of ten times, only the official mail id is flaunted (to tell aloud where they have reached on the corporate ladder) as they are barred from printing their personal mail ids on their cards. And these are the same people who later complain about unofficial mails flooding their official inboxes. Once their official mail id is made public, they loose control over what reaches their inboxes as they themselves entered into a mutual consent of two-way communication. Maybe only official on their part. But everybody is not always official and ethical with friends. That's not what friends are for :-). They are suffering of their own folly. Nobody known to them has the time and inclination to send them unofficial mails unless they consider them friends or close enough.


In my opinion, if it infuriates them so much then they should have never leaked their official ids, even to friends. Either they should specifically distinguish between the two mail ids beforehand or never dispense with their work ids outside their office. But in case they have thrown caution to the winds, then also technology affords them ample opportunity. I am sure this fastidious lot are no luddites if they rely on email rather than the non-spamming postman. They can simply ignore and delete (or block the offending senders like myself) the private mails received on their work ids instead of making such a hullabaloo about it. It just takes a second. But they would not deign to do that and the best part is that they want to have the cake and eat it too. Instead of resorting to the instant policy of ‘press the button to shoo your worries away’ they will have the tenacity to request the sender(s) to definitely keep them in the loop but on an alternative mail id (hinting as though they are enjoying every bit of it, but are scared to admit it due to their prowling bosses and inflated official egos). I say this because many of my other friends who are in the top echelons of the corporate world, have never ever complained regarding this malice, if at all it is so hazardous. But how can all friends be alike in their approach ? Have I forgotten the good old school and college days ? Or am I too foolish or naïve to understand this ?


My own independent research also tells me that corporates are more concerned about those employees who consistently receive and spend more time on porn and the ludicrous erotic stuff instead of the amiable innocuous stuff. So dear readers, here is an opportunity for you to decide. I vehemently request for your views on this matter. And last but not the least, I would also like to mention that in case the sender and the receiver are members of an e-group, then the recepient should only complain to the administrator of the e-group to change or delete his mail id and not vent his ire on other members when mails and counter-mails often bounce back and forth. Why the F*** did ‘His Royal Highness’ give the official id to the e-group in the first place, if he is the regal one and the rest downtrodden. I would like to confess that I am still in two minds whether it is uncourteous and uncouth to reply back telling the respondent (who is not a stranger in the first place) to remove his work id and add the personal id instead, when self-help is just on your keyboard. Simply ignore, block or delete such mails. The sender and your prying office server will get the message anyway. What say….?

3 comments:

Sunil said...

That's a good one. You are rubbing salt on their injuries :-)

Vivek Ahuja said...

Good One Sumit. I agree with you. You've become a writer yaar!

Dheeraj Mehra said...

Great courageous attempt in highlighting the controversial issue ;-)
Keep going