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FWD: Send To Everyone!

If you don’t forward this to at least five friends, you will lose them…

The e-mail chain letter is an intriguing study in modern society. One of the most interesting aspects of the e-mail chain letter is the wild statements often connected to whether or not a receiver breaks the chain. What leads people to make up such statements of dire predictions for not sending their little note, quiz, or anecdote along to everyone on our contacts list? What leads people to pass them on? Does anyone actually read the entire e-mail, or just send them on to people and spread the word? How many people does an e-mail chain letter reach? Have any of the fortunes of which chain letters warn us ever come true?

Some of the popularity of the e-mail chain letter rises from the relative cheapness of e-mail and its near-instantaneous nature. A physical letter requires costly postage and envelopes, as well as a greater amount of time. Thus, the physical chain letter never achieved quite the same status as the e-mail equivalent. Because of this, the range of affected people was also much smaller. E-mail communication allows a spiderweb effect, increasing the number of people reached.

The compulsion to send e-mail chain letters may derive from the human trait of gullibility, from boredom, or perhaps some other as-of-yet undefined aspect of the human person. As to where those who begin chain letters get their ideas for the punishments for breaking the chain, only God knows.

The e-mail chain letter is just one of the new horizons to be studied that the Internet and global connectivity have opened. Hopefully with time the motivations and ideas behind this phenomenon will come to light.