Is it just the people I know that do this?

[FuzzyKitten99]

Or is this common for those in the age brackets of 55 & up?

I am talking about forwarding emails of all kinds, mostly the ones that end up being debunked on Snopes.com.

Seriously.

BOTH my grandmas do this. They are both about the same age, and have NEVER met. They live 1200 miles apart. Yet they seem to think it is a required thing to forward every chain email they get. From the mis-stated facts to doctored photos, to tear-jerker sob stories to drum up anger about something that isn't even 100% true and the like.

My friend's husband does this too, but he is also 56 yrs old (she's late 40's).

And other relatives I know that are over 55 do this! I get about 8-10 emails a day just from the combination of these people forwarding what I consider junk mail.

My dad sometimes forwards stuff, but rarely. Most of my same-age friends do this sparingly, if at all.

I almost never read them (though if a title catches my attention, i might) and just delete them. I don't tell them this of course, because I also see it as a positive sign that my grandmas are in good health and nothing is wrong.

I am just curious to know if this habit is more than just my circle of friends/family?

[Crossbow]

It's more, trust me. My parents do this, but thankfully, not as often as they used to. I guess they got tired of me correcting them and pointing them to Snopes.com.

[Mytical]

It is not just the 55 and older sadly, nor just in your family. My two favorites (sarcasm here) is a chain letter stating that if you don't forward them that some ghost of a child will kill you. It is the exact same letter, the only difference between the two is the name of the child. Word for word, except the name.

[firecat88]

My bestie used to send me that kinda crap all. the. time. Seriously, if it had some variation of 'Send this to every person you've ever met since you were born' on it, she sent it to me. It got to the point that I just stopped even looking at them and instinctively deleted anything from her with 'FWD' in the subject line or every word capitalized. She has since figured out that I hate those e-mails, thankfully.

[csquared]

I know people much younger than 55 that send that crap around. I keep sending me the link to Snopes, and they keep sending me the crap.

[Jay 2K Winger]

It's not just you.

Weird Al has dealt with people like that as well.

[FuzzyKitten99]

It's not just you.

Weird Al has dealt with people like that as well.

If I could 'rep' you, I would.

I LOVED that, lol!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Oh, no. Nope. Not just you.

I wish it WAS just you.

If it's someone younger, I mock them publicly till they knock it off. If it's someone older, I just grit my teeth.

I dont' know why my Mom's demographic think if they hear something, it must be true no matter how many holes the story has. I can forgive them. But when it's someone younger, they're getting the Full Treatment.

Eventually, they start associating my email address with getting smacked on the nose and they wander off in search of an easier target.

I love the "send this stupid shit to all your girlfriends if you love them! I expect to get this back!"

Yeah. No.

Someone TEXTED me that shit this morning. TEXTED ME. Un fucking believable. That shit needs to stop. Yesterday.

[Slayer]

Not just you!

Though my mom is very superstitious so from a very young age, I was always told never to read them (even when paper copies were around). To this day, if I'm even about to start reading one on accident, I have to avert my eyes. Never fails XD. So no one gets it from me, lol.

Sending those things were all the rage in HS. Not sure why. Maybe because emails were just getting popular.

[Kogarashi]

Hubby's grandmother on one side sends them all the time, but she's not the most computer literate person in the world, so it's sort of understandable (if still annoying). I think Hubby finally got her to stop after repeated polite requests.

A relative keeps sending politically charged ones, unfortunately, often with spurious and even outright false claims. Requests seem to have mostly curbed that too.

My younger sisters and mom used to send me all the chain letters, especially the ones that claimed to pay for each e-mail forwarded or something, but I also got that to stop by telling them that I only want to see the chain forwards if they have funny jokes or awesome photos, and no I will not be forwarding them on. Also, I love them, but I don't like those "forward this to everyone you love, I expect this back!" e-mails and won't respond to them.

And yes, I'm usually the one in the family who looks up the chain letters on Snopes or similar and does a Reply All with the link. I think I've finally trained my family to check up on everything before forwarding it on. Like the e-mails about how such-and-such sweetener or other popular food is secretly killing you and you should really try this new Name-Brand miracle food instead. I've done my share of responding to those with links to reputable sources about how the popular item is not as bad as the e-mails claim and the product in the e-mail might not be as "miracle" as they tout it to be.

I love my family, and Hubby's too, I really do. Hence the patient e-mail training.

[Merriweather]

Or is this common for those in the age brackets of 55 & up?

I am talking about forwarding emails of all kinds, mostly the ones that end up being debunked on Snopes.com.

I think it has more to do with the person than the age. I have certain relatives & old friends who do this all the time (though a few eased up when I'd send back links to Snopes etc. all the time).

I find it's usually people who aren't all that computer literate, who don't use their computer for a lot more than email & solitaire. And since most young people have grown up using computers, they tend to stick with comments on facebook, etc.

More people over 55 tend to fall into the "not so comfortable with computers" category, so you probably see more of those passed around letters from them, but honest, those of us over 55 who have actually make use of their computers tend to find better things to do (I've had computers since the late 70's).

I can tolerate those things, though I do send links to Snopes a lot, but I also have been known to get snarky at times and send back a full blown tutorial on how to use BCC and how to remove other people's lists of "sent to" addresses before forwarding, and a lecture on "this is one reason we all have so much spam".

[Kittish]

Nope, not just you. My ex-MIL (still good friends) sends me that kind of stuff all the freakin time. And does repeats! I swear, some of the emails I've gotten from her are close to 10 years old. And she never, ever checks up on if stuff is actually legitimate or not. Mostly I just sigh and roll my eyes a bit, but every now and then she'll send one on that could actually be dangerous if someone tried to do what it said, those I'll usually reply to and try to point out to her that (whateveritis) is a REALLY dumb idea.

[flybye023]

I don't know. My aunt and uncle are in their 40s and they do the same thing, only by snail mail. Yep, we get spam via U.S. Mail.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I used to get it my snail mail. Chain letters. Even as a kid, I thought they were asinine.

Am I the only one that thinks it's almost unbearably ironic that we are using a technology as amazing as the internet to basically try to perform half-assed voodoo?

[Draper Mel]

Oh my god!! My mother sends that stuff around all the time. And then I get a second copy because my uncle (her brother) sends it around AGAIN!

The last one was about those people who supposedly soak business cards in some sort of drug that renders you unable to defend yourself when they follow you and attack you. Puh-leez!