FWD:
The birth of the post gave way to the rise of the letter. The birth of the Internet gave way to the rise of Email. The rise of email gave birth to the era of the FWD and the era of the FWD brought forward a new set of social rules.Since the very first FWD there have been basic rules and the rules are simple: Choose your FWDs wisely, Only FWD to those wanting to be FWDed and remember the golden rule: Do unto others what blah blah blah - you get the picture.The rules are clear and the rules are right, however, there has been a shift in social interactions when it comes to FWDs.Make no mistake people, a FWD can ruin your life.
This subject can get very sticky and enter a lot of grey areas, but someone had to go there or here... or whatever.
This first part of a FWD that is looked at (other that the subject) is not the content, it is the To: field. The Majority of the time we are not interested in what is being said but who it's being said to. Not only can it be disastrous having people look at your "FWD List" critically ("Why is he talking to HER?", "I HATE that guy now in turn I hate the sender!") but having the wrong order can really turn a harmless blond joke into the catalyst for the end of social life as you know it. Imagine the explaining that would have to be done if when your girlfriend finds that attractive coworkers name not only ahead of their own, but ahead of your best friends? What does that say about her? And what if the office jerk is ahead of your favourite coworker? That would mean you thought of the jerk before you thought of them! And imagine if - forbid- someone found themselves added LAST, like an afterthought or worse yet, a token inclusion on the fun!
When FWDs grew in popularity way back in the nineties there was an initial backlash. Now they are on the rise again. So what changed between nineteen ninety what and now? The personalisation of the FWD. This is a process where the sender removes any trace of the former FWDs by remover old To fields and signatures creating a fresh copy, and there is nothing more special than feeling like you are the first to see this gem of comedy. The opposite of this feeling comes when you see a FWD arrive in your email that has a dreaded start to the subject line."FWD:FWD:blah blah blah". The double FWD indicates two things. 1. This has been FWD'd before and 2. The sender didn't deem you special enough to reformat the recycled piece of junk, stereotyping dung. The people who double FWD without reformatting are the same people who spit on the graves on babies with aids. I shit you not - it's the truth.
Further on from reformatting is the dangerous practice of reFWDing. This is risky business and the payoff potentially can be huge, but you must remain vigilant. When receiving a funny FWD some people during the reformatting process like to change the wording of a joke or story and claim it is there own - I know, please hold your shock. This practise is nothing new and when pulled off correctly the reFWD can make you a hero, a champion of wit and irresistible to the opposite sex (or same sex if it suits you). Fail, however, and results are catastrophic beyond normal human comprehension. You must observe who the original sender has sent to and make sure you do NOT send it to the same people. If possible ensure you don't send it to the same group of people. If the joke and or story if good enough for a reFWD it's good enough to tell over dinner. You need to make sure there are at least 3 degrees of separation between you and the people retelling the gold. One needs to make sure when you the question "who came up with that?" your name is nowhere near it once your name is attached the likelihood of them discovering you ripped off a John Cleese joke increases exponentially in relation to the amount of times retold. When it fails reFWDing spirals out of control, and once discovered the reFWDer loses it all, the fame, the respect, the mortgage, the car, the job. They become a drifter and a tramp. This isn't melodrama - it's real life baby.
The art of the reFWD deserves it's own post really, however, there is one very important rule. Don't send the reFWD to the person that originally sent you the FWD. It's just embarrassing for all involved.
The are solutions to all pitfalls when it comes to FWDing. For example to avoid any awkward situations with the order of recipients, list them alphabetically - then the alphabet is discriminating people not you. It's the alpha-safe-bet. Of course the best way to avoid being embarrassed in a FWD is request not to receive them and more importantly - do not fucking send them. But if you follow this post, or guide if you will, you should be fine.
That is not a promise.
-db
