Getting through life without email is practically impossible. It’s a necessary evil that comes with a unique set of problems. One of the most infuriating? The overuse of the dreaded “Reply All” feature.
Duplicity and Beyond
Why is it that every time we change schools, jobs, or join a new organization, they insist on assigning us a proprietary email address? Organizations claim it’s for streamlined communication through internal distribution lists. But for those of us juggling multiple roles, it’s just another inbox to monitor.
Personally, I have seven active email accounts: one for my day job, two for contract work, one for an educational role, a non-job school email, a personal account, and of course, the notorious spam email. Instead of accommodating a preferred email address, organizations enforce their own. Why not simply add my personal account to the list? It would make life so much easier.
Mandated Compliance
Years ago, while in medical school, I took a stand. I set up an auto-reply on my school account that read something like this:
Thank you for reaching out. Unfortunately, this email account is not monitored. If you need to reach me, please forward your message to [personal email].
It lasted about a week. A school official quickly emailed my personal account, threatening consequences if I didn’t monitor the school address and disable the auto-reply. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
I wanted to respond by creating a fake email account for the administrator and requiring all future messages to go through it, just to prove how absurd the policy was. Instead, I set up an auto-forward to my personal email. Problem solved. The school account still exists, but I haven’t actively monitored it since.
The Real Problem
Corporate email accounts are a control mechanism. Companies mandate their use for encryption, distribution list management, and ownership over email content. Every message sent or received can be monitored, accessed, and even used in court. There’s no expectation of privacy.
While the security aspect has merit, the constant influx of unnecessary emails causes more harm than good. And the worst offender? The infamous “Reply All.”
Virtue Signaling at Its Finest
Distribution lists serve a purpose, but misuse runs rampant. The biggest sin? Failing to BCC recipients. By using the BCC field, senders prevent recipients from replying to everyone on the list. Yet people still subject us to the never-ending chain of unnecessary responses.
Years ago, while working at a healthcare organization, I received an email seeking collaboration on a patient case. It went out to over 300 providers. Within minutes, my inbox flooded with replies. Dozens of people chimed in with irrelevant responses, none of which applied to my specialty.
To break the cycle, I crafted a lighthearted response:
As much as I’d love to collaborate, unless the pregnancy in question is the result of a work-related injury, those of us in occupational medicine would like to be removed from this email chain.
I assumed this would end the madness. It did not. By the time I returned from seeing a patient, I had over 200 more emails—some laughing at my response, others requesting their own removal from the chain.
The Need to Feel Seen
But the real champions of email misuse? The virtue signalers. You know the ones. They hit “Reply All” to broadcast their heartfelt “Congratulations!” or “Thoughts and prayers” to the entire organization. These are the same people who probably complain about corporate email surveillance while simultaneously craving public acknowledgment.
It’s a digital form of self-importance. A congratulatory email sent directly to the person in question? Reasonable. A mass reply to ensure everyone knows you care? Exhausting.
And don’t get me started on the birthday party phenomenon. Why am I now required to provide gift bags for every other child at my kid’s party? It’s the same performative nonsense, just in physical form. But I digress.
What’s Your Email Pet Peeve?
We’ve all experienced email absurdities. From the chronic “Reply All” offenders to the never-ending chain emails, corporate communication is often more chaotic than productive. So tell me—what’s your biggest issue with email?
