Should I decide to print some letters sent our way, and someone provides no other way to refer to them (ie, their “name” is their email address), is it bad karma to post that address? I’m guessing yes, but if I post “r33t4rd598 sent this email”, I’m pretty sure people will start to figure out @hotmail @yahoo @whatever pretty quick?
Opinions, please.
Make up a name appropriate for the tone of the letter, like “Shrieking Cockmaster” or “Raving Assface” or somesuch.
I’d do that even if the letter-writer provided a name.
;)
But yeah, make up a name, or just call them “Anonymous.” That’s probably your best bet.
Isn’t tradition just to provide the means? Like:
“Dear Jakub,
You suck!! Haahhasd. Also, your articles are long. And Jacob is spelled wrong!
via e-mail”
I think he’s asking how he should refer to the writer in a reply. “Dear via email” sounds kind of weird.
Instantly delete any e-mail by people who are too rude or too stupid to provide an actual name. Problem solved. I bet you won’t lose any worthwhile letters that way.
Well, in the initial post his example was of attribution, not replying. If you reply, I’d refer to them as “Nancy.”
I lose funny ones though.
Like the one that suggested I got a free copy of StarForce pro copy protection in exchange for my article.
If they didn’t provide a name at the end of the email, then I see no problem with just going by the email username, sans the service.
I would suggest putting a notice near where you have your contact email listed suggesting they submit a name and/or location within their emails, just for the hell of it.
Doesn’t help you at the moment or at all if you don’t have control over such things, but it might be worth setting up a web form for people to use for feedback instead of accepting e-mails at all. You can make “name” required.
Otherwise, any of the suggestions above sound reasonable to me. I’d probably just go with “Anonymous, via e-mail” myself.
Yes, but if everyone is anonymous, people will assume he’s just making shit up!
… or maybe he really is!