A Plea to Eliminate Junk Mail (Excerpt from March 1999 Circuit)

To: Ethics Office

I would appreciate a sectorwide communication alerting ES³ employees that sending chain and joke letters through ES³'s e-mail system should stop. Personally, I find it time consuming and annoying to receive junk mail.

However, I am sensitive to the fact that many co-workers think junk mail may make me laugh or be of interest to me -- so, I don't know how to ask them to stop. I don't want to be thought of as a killjoy or workaholic. I just simply don't have the time to read the junk!

I don't think that I am the only employee here that thinks this way. In keeping with this thought, I am sure that most employees feel it would be beneficial to have junk mail stopped. Have you considered a mass communication to all employees requesting junk mail passing to stop-- For example, it could be addressed in a Circuit article entitled, "Friends Don't Send Friends Junk Mail," or whatever. Then, you could also request the message be passed from the executive level down through the ranks via staff meetings.

This is food for thought. Also, you may choose not to use the e-mail system to carry this message -- it may be considered more extraneous (junk) mail and, in turn, invite negative criticism.

Thanks for your ear and your time.

The Ethics Office received this message last month, subsequent to a flurry of junk e-mail activity across ES³. The good news is that we have an ability to communicate efficiently throughout the sector. The not so good news is our communications are not always appropriate. Perhaps it's because we perceive e-mail as private, or possibly because we view junk mail as harmless (not always). Or it could be a throw back to decades ago when perceptions regarding acceptability were much different than today.

Whatever the reason, inappropriate communication (such as e-mail jokes with a negative connotation directed at a racial or ethnic group, or e-mail with sexually offensive content) should not be tolerated at any level in our organization.

The Ethics Office appreciates this employee's message and respectfully requests your assistance in eliminating junk e-mail traffic. We don't want to have to implement legislated compliance--it's neither effective nor efficient. Reinforcement is really up to each of us.