There are still lots of people out there who continue to send far too many emails to friends, coworkers, family, etc. Many of these emails are usually mass-forwards to laundry lists of people. While I’m sure some of these are quite amusing/interesting/inflammatory, they all frequently have the same effect:  clutterying up inboxes.

To these people, I would like to  suggest they do what so many other net-savvy people have done, specifically blogging. Blogging is essentially the same thing as sending out that armada of email, except that it is seen when and how the end user desires. If you haven’t quite figured out the whole blog thing, or think that its too technical, rest assured its actually quite simple. In fact, websites like WordPress, blogspot, and livejournal do all the work for you. And this tutorial explains how to get started on your new blogging adventure.

After you’ve created your new blog, don’t immediately send out a barrage of ‘Check out my new Intarweb!’ emails.  First try to find your friends’ blogs and comment on them, leaving a link to your own.  Its a little more polite.

Don’t think you need to abandon your friendly emails though, these can still be quite pleasant when not sent in bulk. A few rules of thumb for writing a blog instead of an email:

  1. Is your mailing list large enough that you need to use BCC?
  2. Do you have to think about to whom you want to write the email?
  3. Does it envolve sending an image or video?
  4. Are there more people than just your recipients that might find the email interesting?

If you found this useful, then you might also do a quick google on RSS or go take a peek at Google Reader. Most blog platforms allow you to subscribe using RSS and use software like Google Reader to read all your blogs in one simple interface.