Some of our biggest fans — people who don’t just read our content, but actively share it too — sometimes disappear from the mailing list. Then I get emails such as this recent one:
I just realized I am no longer on HR list? Who cleans it out? How many others got left off who should be on it?
Nobody “cleans” our subscription list.
So why are more active readers more vulnerable to being unknowingly unsubscribed?
What Not to Do
If you forward our emails using your email program’s regular Forward button, you may be compromising your internet privacy. At the bottom of every email from HonestReporting, there’s some clickable fine print called a footer that says:
You can change your email preferences or unsubscribe anytime. If you unsubscribe you will be removed from all HR communiqué and IDNS email lists.
Clicking that footer allows you to manage your subscription. You can change your address, unsubscribe, or switch lists all by yourself.
The problem is, if you forward our emails without first removing that footer, anyone can click it. It’s easy for people to think they’re unsubscribing themselves from HonestReporting when they’re really unsubscribing you. Or, someone could maliciously unsubscribe you.
Once you forward the email, it’s out in cyberspace and there’s no telling where it’ll go.
(The footers on our Israel Daily News Stream emails have a different wording, but have the same function.)
What You Should Do
So how can you forward our terrific emails without compromising your privacy?
Every time we email a media critique, there’s an often overlooked button in the right margin of the email itself. Forward this email. It looks like this:
Clicking it takes you to a “Forward to a Friend page” powered by HonestReporting’s email service. There, you can fill in up to five email addresses and include a brief personal message. Your friends will know it came from you, but more importantly, the footer will be stripped from the email they receive.
(Our Israel Daily News Stream emails don’t have this Forward button, but we’re working on that.)
You can share our content, and have the peace of mind that your internet privacy remains private.
One Last Point
You can also be “bounced” off the list without knowing it. Emails bounce when they are undeliverable. This usually happens because the inbox is full, the address no longer exists, or the message exceeds a predetermined size. When a certain number of emails to one address bounce, our email service stops sending to it.
I think the number of bounces goes up during the usual times of the year when people are on vacation.
But no matter why our emails disappear, getting back on the subscription list is easy. Simply go to the HonestReporting home page, click the subscribe button at the top of the right margin, and fill out the pop up form.
