Reply #32: Armchair Activism and E-Bombs.... [View All]

Probably why we should knock off those "copy&paste" e-campaigns?

EMAIL BOMBS AND BLOWBACKS
http://blogs.csmonitor.com/readers_email/2005/01/index.html#a0003163264
Christian Science Monitor reporter Tom Regan writes, "The Internet
is increasingly being used by special interest groups to try and
influence media to change the way they cover a subject, or in some
cases not to cover it at all." Regan focuses on the Monitor's
on-line polls, which, although not scientific, "encourage deeper
involvement in a story and issue." A poll accompanying a story on
the U.S. Presbyterian Church's vote to boycott companies doing
business with Israel resulted in a "coordinated e-mail bomb
campaign." Regan summarizes, "The great concern of those who
e-mailed and those who organized the e-mailing: public perception."
But "e-mail bomb campaigns are easy to spot, and often easy to
ignore. ... Just one thoughtful, well-written e-mail or letter can
often have far more impact than the hundreds of cut-and-paste
e-mails sent during these attacks."
SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor, January 6, 2005
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