Digital Life: Dangers of the email 'BCC'

USA TODAY columnist Steven Petrow offers advice about digital etiquette.

Q: Work colleagues of mine use the BCC feature all the time and I find it dangerous. Several times I've almost responded to an e-mail message when I shouldn't have. If I had, whose fault would it have been?

— Anonymous

A: Readers, do you know how important this question is? Businesses and relationships have both been sunk because of BCC errors. I would love to banish the function entirely from all e-mails.

First, a quick primer: When you send an e-mail you'll see three address slots: To, CC (for "carbon copy"), and BCC (blind carbon copy). The second two are antiquated holdovers from the time when we wrote and sent memos and letters using actual carbon paper. In the digital age, the BCC seems at first like a godsend, as it allows you to surreptitiously loop someone in to a conversation without letting official recipients know anyone else is on the thread. That godsend turns hellish with the BCC'd one hits "reply all," sending a message to all those other recipients. Embarrassment over your lack of discretion is assured; your job may be not.

I think the worst use of the blind carbon copy is to rat out or tattle on a coworker. Say you're sending an e-mail to colleagues highlighting all that you've done on a project and castigating others for not doing their share; you BCC the boss as a way of claiming credit, but the boss inadvertently replies to all. That'll sink any relationship between you and your colleagues in just one click. The more people on the e-mail, the worse things get, because everyone on the "To" and "CC" list will know you BCC'd a higher up.

Having learned the hard way, I avoid using BCC altogether (with one exception) and urge you to, as well. In a work e-mail, use the "To" field for all those you expect to respond. Use the "CC" one for those you're keeping in the loop. For anyone else, "Forward" the sent e-mail so that there's no chance of them hitting "reply all" and ruining your reputation.

The exception is mass e-mails, when you are sending a message to a long list of contacts. In this case, BCC the entire recipient list and include no CCs. You'll not only protect the privacy of your recipients, but if anyone hits "reply all" by mistake only you will get the response.

Agree or disagree with my advice? Let me know in the comment section.

Submit your question to Steven at stevenpetrow@earthlink.net. You can also follow Steven on Twitter: @StevenPetrow. Or like him on Facebook at facebook.com/stevenpetrow.