Chain letters gather e-mail addresses the further they go. Here's an example that has gathered quite a few e-mail addresses along the way:

The further it goes, the more e-mails it collects

If you're going to forward an e-mail, make sure you actually delete all the e-mail addresses and other useless data from above and below the actual content before you do. Not only are you preventing your e-mail (and the e-mails of everyone else on the list) from being sent to who knows who, but it makes the content of the e-mail much easier to find.

Pranks and Hoaxes

Besides protecting the privacy of those who came before you and those who come after, it might be a good idea to verify the authenticity of an e-mail before sending it along. There are a variety of hoaxes that are constantly being sent around in e-mails with the plea to send them to everyone you know.

In one famous case, Nike shoes was the target of a prank that claimed that if you sent them old sneakers, you'd receive a new pair for free! Because people believed it and kept spreading the lie, Nike received thousands of pairs of old shoes and a lot of bad press through no fault of their own.

Even if you don't share my personal distaste for people who create hysteria or harm through these pranks, at least consider the embarrassment factor. If you're one of those people who forward everything without previously researching it, you look pretty gullible and at the very least, people will start ignoring the things you send.

Whenever you receive one of these chain letters, first check the rumor-busting sites online:

• Snopes - Answers to Rumors and Urban Legends
• FactCheck.org - Rumor Busting and Scam Slaying

Don't violate the privacy of people in your contact list by sharing their e-mail addresses with everyone. What do I mean? Well, have you ever seen one of these:

Wow! Look at all those names!

The problem here is that everyone who receives this e-mail will also see everyone else's e-mail address and name. Why violate the privacy of your contacts this way? All that does is present a risk to you and them if anyone on the list is a spammer or scammer (or someone forwards this e-mail to one).

Put your own e-mail address in the "To:" field and take that giant list of people and put it in the blind carbon copy (BCC) field. Now when you send it, everyone will still get the e-mail, but the only address they will see is yours. And since they already know who you are, you're not giving away any private information to anyone.

You can still use CC if you wish, but only if you specifically intend for each person who receives the e-mail to know the other people who got the e-mail (for example, you send an e-mail to the tech support people and CC their supervisor so they know they will be called to task for their response).

Here's a great list I found online of all the major e-mail services and how to enable the BCC field if it isn't already.