Whether these emails are cheerful notes to friends or just another boring business update, each one of these messages carries a personal impact. Even this newsletter, which is mailed to 82,000 people, touches you personally.



If you're not sure how personal this can be, then consider the continuing controversy over SPAM. I've found it fascinating to watch how upset some people become when they receive unsolicited emails. Clearly, they feel that this is a crime against God and against man. The only fair punishment is death.

See, it's very personal.

Yet, many of these same people who decry the unwanted intrusion into their lives, will send out the nastiest email messages you'll ever see. Miss Manners would be astounded to read some of the things I've received from people I don't know, who don't know me and have no nexus with me.

When people are in public places, we are constrained by two forces. One is the simple fact of being overheard publicly. We know there are certain things you just don't do in public. The other constraint is our inability to be naturally articulate at the time when we need it most.

But, if you give some people the opportunity to carefully craft an email so they can give vent to the vitriol that's in their souls, and it's amazing what some people will do. They will virtually foam at the mouth and spray invectives like they're coming out of a fire hose.

When I speak with other Internet entrepreneurs, they agree that this is a growing trend. What's most interesting is that the vast majority of these messages simply have no basis for the sender to be even mildly upset.

I received a fascinating email this week from an attorney who was apparently venting his own frustrations at the world. This email accused me of being a charlatan and masquerading as an attorney. While this man was clearly upset about something, I could not fathom the purpose of this email.

I sent back a simple request for more information about why he might be so angry. Maybe he was a customer who did not receive a product. Maybe he was a subscriber who didn't like this newsletter and wanted off the list.

He never responded. All he wanted to do was lash out at someone because he is so unhappy with himself. He wanted to make his problem into my problem.

For those of us conducting business online, we have to always remember how personal each email message is that we send. On the other hand, we have to avoid being personally involved with, or offended by, many of the messages we receive.