I’ve used multiple email addresses for years.
Especially back when I was being all incognito online. On Facebook I was “Aunt T” and my profile picture was my bird Charlie. Total privacy hound. With my blog, I’ve kinda hung it all out there. And it’s OK.
But still, I guard my privacy with my email online. Mainly because I hate spam and when I get fed up with the volume, I simply delete that email account and start over. Sometimes I like to get a free download and then opt out of all subsequent auto responders. It’s easier when they don’t know who you are.
But! you say, “I can’t live without my email address. No one will be able to find me!”.
To that I say, “Don’t sweat the small stuff… uncluttering your life is beyond value sometimes.”
Your important peeps will find you.
You’ll get a break from all that junk — and yes, admit it, much of it comes from your friends, family, and business associates — that lays in wait for you every morning, noon and night.
I set up gmail accounts for the sole purpose of deleting them in 6 months or so — or whenever they get out of control.
I’ve also changed my “main” email address and it didn’t kill me.
You can create a gmail account too. I’d go ahead and put the url here but it’s impossibly long – like 175 characters long (I checked in word). So just click on this link.
So, this is a challenge. Will you do it?
Yes, you say? Then here’s an article that will help you redirect all your “junk” email to your new account:
Tips On Setting Up a New Email Account for Your “Junk” Email
Post update 8-25-10
Should you cloak your email? Or send self-destructing emails? How important is email privacy to you? Take a look at the comments below and tell us what you think!
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m so dense sometimes, I have used my main email address for years for all email communication…it only just occurred to me that I could get email addresses for different uses…namely ‘opt-ins’. Thanks for the reminder and the encouragement. I will take your challenge!
Darcie Newton recently posted..Do You Know What You Are Capable Of
Hey Darcie,
Thanks for the great comment and for taking the challenge. You’ll have to come back and opt-in for a copy of Think & Grow Rich… I promise I won’t send you spammy auto-responders!
You’ll love the freedom of being able to visit your new email inbox at your leisure… it’s not something you have to look at every day. You can set aside a little bit of time to read the newsletters, ebooks, training series… whatever it is you choose to receive!
Enjoy!
Theresa
GOOD POINT!! I had one yahoo email account “in the beginning”….but, alas I had to not only create a Google account, but even a 2nd Yahoo account for different emails/different purposes – it’s simply easier that hunting through billions of emails to find the ONE you need. I just direct whomever to email me at whichever email box I want thier emails in – done! For me that has simplified my emails a lot. Great article – thanks!
Hello Jeanne,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! I love hearing how other people handle multiple email accounts… and why
Life can be simpler with several accounts. I actually have levels of priority for each. And it works! When I travel, there is only one email account that I really want to look at — the others can wait.
Thanks again for adding to the conversation, hope you visit again soon,
Theresa
In addition to having a disposable email account, many people also prefer to keep the contents of their email private (from hackers and even Google) by CLOAKing their messages first. This also helps reduce the targeted ads you’re shown.
Just select the part of your email that you want to keep private, pick a keyword and encrypt that part. You still email as you do today, and Gmail isn’t affected since only regular keyboard characters are used for the encrypted results. But, only people who you’ve shared your keyword with can read the CLOAKed parts of your postings. Not even Google or its advertising partners know what you are emailing.
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Hey David,
Hmmm. Cloak (and dagger) email? Looks like you have a cool tool. I love finding really great free services online, especially those that come in handy for business. Thanks for your contribution to this discussion!
I’ve had to communicate confidential information online in the past. I’ve received “confidential” email too. Email I would have rather the sender did not send via email. So, I’ll check this out. Please note, I’ve posted your full comment — links and all — because you are offering a free service.
Playing devil’s advocate, here’s an interesting article from USA Today on the legal implications of self-destructing emails – another tool for sending clandestine emails. This is a somewhat dated, but very interesting article on privacy, ownership and control of online communications. Click on this link to read the article.
And, because I think this is fascinating, here’s a link to a site offering those self-destructing emails.
Readers, please note… I’m not endorsing any of these products. But this stuff makes for a great discussion. My best advice? Don’t send anything in an email that you would not want others to see. Ever. Don’t write anything in an email that you may later regret. Delete the email. Don’t send it.
I’m also going to ask my readers to weigh in here. What do you think?
Okay, I took your challenge to visit your archives and take an action and I didnt have to look far. I have been using my primary personal email for everything and what a mess my inbox is…. From now on, only real personal emails will be in that box and everything else will end up in my newly formed gmail account. Wish I thought of something so obvious earlier! Imagine opening up my email every day and not having to wade through all the – sorry – crap… Now the process of redirecting current mail away from my primary email to my new gmail address. Anyone have any suggestions?
Janet, you are going to love this! You will no longer have to see those junk emails every day as you look at those emails you really want to get. I know I love it. I’ve even assigned different message alerts on my smart phone for each email account. Of course I gave the junk mail a rather obnoxious mail alert tone! And, my main (favorite) emails? They have a lovely pleasant chime.
As to redirecting that junk…you can generally “manage” your email subscription at the very bottom of each email. You can opt-out completely, or change your email address. Sometimes you can choose how often you receive those emails — for example you can receive them daily or get a weekly digest. With some email you have only one choice — which is to cancel your subscription. So you will need to opt-in again with your new gmail account.
Here’s another tip: You can set up a new folder in your email program (I use mac mail — but this works in outlook too) and you can temporarily put the junk mail in there. This is a folder you create…you can call it “email I need to manage”, or something. By doing this you will not accidentally opt out of something and forget to re-opt in later and also, you do not have to deal with each email as it comes in. Just move it to your new folder until you’re ready to deal with it. Make sense?
Thanks for taking the challenge! Hey, and I just noticed you already set up your new gmail account. Way to go!
Theresa
I have several ‘junk’ email accounts, that I use to sign up on certain web sites that require an email for an account. Especially any site that requires you sign up to play a game. Junk gets filtered through that account and I don’t worry about it.
Thanks for your comment Erica! That’s a perfect use for a junk email account. I find that I don’t even mind spam when it comes to an account that I don’t need to check daily. I just do a mass ‘delete’.
~Theresa
I love my gmail account, partly because of the minimal amount of spam, but sometimes I need an alternate account, for example, when I am looking for a job. I’d rather not have another gmail account because I have to sign in and out of my primary each time I have used the secondary. I have tried Yahoo and got so much spam the account is almost unusable. Any suggestions for other free, low-spam webmail providers?
Thanks!
Hi Gina! Thanks for your comment. I know what you mean about having to sign in and out of your webmail. The way I get around this is I use my mac OS mail. All of my email accounts are set up in one place — for multiple providers. This can be done with outlook express and on smart phones as well.
Have you set up accounts with your internet provider? We get free email accounts with comcast, and I haven’t had much, if any, spam with those. I also have free email with my website host.
I’m with you, I love gmail.
I don’t know know why I didn’t think about Roadrunner….
I chose Zoho for my job search. It had good reviews online.
That’s great Gina! I love having options! Go get ‘em on your job search. I hope you find something wonderful!
~Theresa