iSHARED EMAIL ADDRESSES null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 i2024-07-29 null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 iEMAIL ANTIPATTERNS null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 iThere are two particular varieties of email address that I don't often see, null (FALSE) 0 ibut I've been known to ridicule when I have: null (FALSE) 0 i* Geographically-based personal email addresses, e.g. null (FALSE) 0 iOurHouseName@example.com. These always seemed to me to undermine one of the null (FALSE) 0 isingle-best things about an email address compared to postal mail - that they null (FALSE) 0 idon't change when you move house! (The most ill-conceived example of null (FALSE) 0 igeographically-based email addresses I've ever seen came from a a 2003 null (FALSE) 0 iproposal by then-MP Derek Wyatt, who proposed that the domain name part of null (FALSE) 0 ievery single email address should contain not only the country of the owner null (FALSE) 0 i(e.g. .uk) but also their complete postcode. He was under the delusion that null (FALSE) 0 ithis would somehow prevent spam. Even ignoring the immense technical null (FALSE) 0 ichallenges of his proposal and the impossibility of policing it across the null (FALSE) 0 iborders of every country that uses email... it probably wouldn't even be null (FALSE) 0 ieffective at his stated goal. I'll let The Register take it from here.) null (FALSE) 0 i* Shared/couple email addresses, e.g. MrAndMrsSmith@example.net. These make me null (FALSE) 0 iwant to scream "You know email addresses are basically free, right? You don't null (FALSE) 0 ihave to share one!" Even back when most people got their email address null (FALSE) 0 idirectly from their dial-up provider, most ISPs offered some number of null (FALSE) 0 iaddresses (e.g. five). null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 iIf you've come across either of the above before, there's... perhaps a null (FALSE) 0 ireasonable chance that it was in the possession of somebody born before 1960 null (FALSE) 0 i(and the older, the more-likely) (No ageism intended: I suspect that the null (FALSE) 0 iphenomenon actually stems from the fact that as email took off in the null (FALSE) 0 inoughties this demographic who were significantly more-likely than younger null (FALSE) 0 ifolks to have (a) a very long-term home that they didn't anticipate moving out null (FALSE) 0 iof any time soon, and (b) an existing anticipation that people and companies null (FALSE) 0 iwrote to them as a couple, not individually.). null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 IIn Community Season 4, Episode 8 (Herstory of Dance), Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase), wearing an Inspector Spacetime t-shirt, sits in a computer lab, saying "Seriously, I need to get to my email: the Post Office is about to close!" /2024/07/pierce-hawthrone-seriously-needs-to-get-to-his-email-before-the-post-office-closes.jpg danq.me 70 i null (FALSE) 0 iYOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME DOING THAT! null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 iI found myself thinking about this as I clicked the "No" button on a poll by null (FALSE) 0 iTerence Eden that asked whether I used a "shared" email address when in a null (FALSE) 0 istable long-term relationship. null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 ITerence Eden (@Edent@mastodon.social) on Mastodon asks: "If you're currently in a stable, long term relationship with someone - do you have a joint email address with them?" /2024/07/edent-joint-email-survey.png danq.me 70 i null (FALSE) 0 iIt wasn't until after I clicked "No" that I realised that, in actual fact, I null (FALSE) 0 ihave had multiple email addresses that I've share with significant other(s). null (FALSE) 0 iAnd more than that, sometimes they've been geographically-based! What's going null (FALSE) 0 ion? null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 iI've routinely had domains or subdomains that I've used to represent a place null (FALSE) 0 ithat I live. They're convenient for when you want to give somebody a short web null (FALSE) 0 iaddress which'll take them to a page with directions to you and links to your null (FALSE) 0 ilocation in a variety of different services and formats. null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 iAnd by that point, you might as well have an email alias, e.g. null (FALSE) 0 iall@myhouse.example.org, that forwards on email to, well, all the adults at null (FALSE) 0 ithe house. What I've described there is, after a fashion, a shared email null (FALSE) 0 iaddress tied to a geographical location. But we don't ever send anything from null (FALSE) 0 iit. Nor do we use it for any kind of personal communication with anybody null (FALSE) 0 ioutside the house. null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 IEmail receipt from Sainsburys, advising that they're unable to deliver "Fruit Bowl Raspberry Peelers 5x16g". /2024/07/sainsburys-email-to-all.png danq.me 70 i null (FALSE) 0 iWe don't give out these all@ addresses (or their aliases: every company gets null (FALSE) 0 itheir own) to people willy-nilly. But they're useful for shared services that null (FALSE) 0 isend automated emails to us all. For example: null (FALSE) 0 i* Giving a forwarding alias to the supermarket means that receipts (listing null (FALSE) 0 iany unavailable products) g0 to all of us, and whoever's meal plan's been null (FALSE) 0 iscuppered by an awkward substitution will know what's up. null (FALSE) 0 i* Using a forwarding alias with the household Netflix account means anybody null (FALSE) 0 ican use the "send me a sign-in link" feature to connect a new device. null (FALSE) 0 i* When confirming that you've sent money to a service provider, CC'ing one of null (FALSE) 0 ithese nice, short aliases provides a quick way to let the others know that a null (FALSE) 0 ibill's been paid (this one's especially useful where, like me, you live in a null (FALSE) 0 i3+ adult household and otherwise you'd be having to add multiple people to the null (FALSE) 0 iCC field). null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 iSure, the need for most of these solutions would evaporate instantly if more null (FALSE) 0 iservices supported multi-user or delegated access (I'd love it if the grocery null (FALSE) 0 idelivery sites would let multiple "accounts", by mutual consent, share a null (FALSE) 0 idelivery slot, destination, and payment method. It'd be cool to know that we null (FALSE) 0 icould e.g. have a houseguest and give them temporary access to a specific null (FALSE) 0 iorder that was scheduled for during their stay. But that's probably a lot of null (FALSE) 0 iwork for very little payoff if you're busy running a supermarket.). But null (FALSE) 0 ioutside of that fantasy world, shared aliases seem to be pretty useful! null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 iLINKS null (FALSE) 0 i null (FALSE) 0 hA 2003 proposal URL:https://web.archive.org/web/20031220212600/http://www.derekwyattmp.co.uk/dereks_work/viewtopic.php?t=201& (FALSE) 0 hDerek Wyatt URL:http://www.derekwyatt.co.uk/ (FALSE) 0 hI'll let The Register take it from here URL:https://www.theregister.com/2003/10/29/mp_unleashes_brilliant_antispam_plan/ (FALSE) 0 hPoll URL:https://mastodon.social/@Edent/112869334936729525 (FALSE) 0 hTerence Eden URL:https://shkspr.mobi/ (FALSE) 0 hRaspberry Peelers URL:https://www.fruit-bowl.com/product/raspberry-peelers/ (FALSE) 0 .