by Rick Baker
On Nov 23, 2010
Recently, the topic of “email bcc” cropped up.
That got me thinking…When & why do people use the email bcc option?
So, to get the facts, I sent out the following LinkedIn question to many of my LinkedIn friends.
When we send email – when should we use the BCC option?
I am curious to know when and why other folks use the BCC option when they send e-mail.
I know some folks use the BCC option to send 'mass' emails...ie, so the recipients do not see the names of other recipients.
I am interested in knowing - how else is “BCC” used?
To date, 30 of those friends have written to provide their views.
Here is a summary of what friends have told me:
- Many people use the bcc option to protect the privacy of the email addresses of all participants. They are sending a mass email to a group of people and nobody gets to see any email address other than that of the sender. Everyone is treated the same.
- Few people use the bcc option to entrap the poor devil who does not know anyone else is bcc’d…to make sure that person is in the dark, to embarrass that person, or to catch that person in a lie. However, there are some people who use bcc that way.
- Some people use the bcc option to create a soft-paper trail…i.e., to protect themselves.
- A few people use the bcc option to keep ‘important’ people such as their boss or their partner in the communication loop, without ‘complicating things’ for the email recipient.
- A few people use the bcc option to bcc themselves. Some people have multiple email addresses because they are affiliated with more than one organization. Others have set up multiple email addresses – like, Rick1@, Rick2@, Rick3@, etc. – so they can automatically sort their outgoing email, much like one would use the Outlook folders to sort one’s email.
- One person uses the bcc to educate another person…i.e., a mentor/mentee relationship.
- Some people never use bcc when they email.
2 final thoughts…
- covert and negatively-directed uses of bcc should be discouraged…they violate the integrity of most business Values & Cultures [we encourage Open Communication and such bcc’s would not pass our tests]
- considering 6 Degrees of Separation – or is it less – it is unrealistic to assume one’s bcc’s will remain “b”