Has this happened to you at work? Some email goes out and it includes a few hundred other other individuals in the organization. Most of the time, it seems to be simple mistake when the sender chose the wrong distribution list. Unfortunately, while you might realize the email wasn’t meant for you and simply deleted it, the rest of your colleagues decided to announce to the world that they also shouldn’t receive it.
What do you end up with? Instead of one incorrectly addressed email message, you have potentially 500+ messages from random people who are annoyed that they got the message, with a wide range of responses. . From what I’ve seen, you have everything from the simple “Please remove me” type emails to ongoing conversation threads between 2-3 people in the distribution list. Not to mention the enormous strain on capacity that the email server is attempting to handle.
Why do supposedly intelligent people do this? I can understand the plight of the original sender — sometimes you will send a message to the wrong person. I don’t understand the 500 foolish people who need to reply all.