My mother turns 90 next week. I’m bringing her to a concert in the National Concert Hall in Dublin.
The online booking form included the question : “Would you like to receive details as to events… by Email”. “Yes” and “No” were available from a pull-down menu – but neither was pre-selected. However it was necessary to answer the question before proceeding.
That was an approach I hadn’t seen before. The Concert Hall wants its customers to join its email list but there is no cheeky default “Yes” that needed to be de-selected.
You’re seeing this blog because you’ve chosen to view it. But have you ever been added to the email list of a product or service provider without giving your permission? Or because you neglected to uncheck that little box in the bottom of an opt-in page that exhorted you to “click here if you do not want to receive emails”?
Was it water off a duck’s back or did it bug you as much as it bugs me? For example, I’d love if those check boxes had to be left unchecked by default!
And on the flip-side – have you ever added anyone to your own email list without their prior agreement?
This topic of emails and permissions comes up a lot with my clients when we’re considering using an online survey as a research tool.
It is important to avoid spamming people. (I just typed spam into google and there were 814,000,000 results.) And it’s desirable to avoid annoying people. But you won’t go too far wrong if you just avoid doing to others what you don’t want done to you!
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