StopForwarding.Us - Fight Chain Letters and Forwards

Posted by: kkav

What it does

Everyone has received unwanted forwards, chain letters, or urban myth emails. But unfortunately, when these come from your friends or co-workers, your spam filter won’t block them, and there is no ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom. StopForwarding.Us is a new site that let’s you battle this problem by sending a polite, anonymous email to ask your contacts to stop sending these types of unwanted emails. To do so, you simply enter the offender’s name and email address, and they will receive an email that asks them to kindly stop sending email forwards, and even provides some tips on email etiquette (such as “Avoid sending forwards to friends or relatives that you've grown distant with. It can be frustrating for the recipient when the only correspondence you have with someone is via impersonal, unwanted email.”) To prevent abuse, StopForwarding.Us will only allow one anonymous email to be sent to a single email address every three months. The site also has a small store that sells spam or forward-themed t-shirts and mouse pads, with proceeds helping to fund the site.

In their own words

This site was created to meet the need of those who are bothered by poor email etiquette, specifically when it comes to forwarded chain letters, urban myths, and bad jokes. The primary function of the site is to allow individuals to anonymously email someone who has sent them spam or forwards a generic letter that politely asks the recipient to refrain from sending this type of email.

Why it might be a killer

If you have an email account, you have almost certainly received the types of email that this site combats. Asking a friend, co-worker, or acquaintance (particularly one you don’t know well or don’t keep in close touch with) to stop sending the unwanted emails could be awkward, but the anonymous nature of StopForwarding.Us would ease that discomfort.

Some questions

Could they add a few options to choose from for the anonymous email? The email automatically sent right now is fairly long and includes information on email etiquette. Could there be the option of sending an email that’s a bit more brief? Aside from the very limited online store, how does this site plan to make a profit?

Updates

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