# Chain email - what's the point? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224 "2009-05-12T21:56:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/1 "2009-05-12T21:56:49Z")
I’m sure we’ve all recieved “Fwd: Fwd: Inspiration tale of bullshi- er, hope!!1!” and “Fwd: Fwd: I didn’t believe this, but it came true! OMG!” type emails from…cynically challenged friends and relatives, but what on Earth is the point of starting them? Spam I can get - there’s money involved for a product or service. But what does the original writer of chain emails get out of random idiots sending his horsecrap story to their address book in the hopes that their wish would come true, or Bill Gates would send them money, or some other such nonsense. What is their motivation for creating them? Entertainment for the sadistic? Morons who believe their own lies? ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/2 "2009-05-12T22:10:20Z")
Well, it generally offers better protection than leather armor, and it’s a lot easier to move in than full plate. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/3 "2009-05-12T22:10:47Z")
Difficult to say if they’re commonly created for this purpose, but they must be absolute gold dust when they fall into the hands of a spammer, or in the case of the ones that get circulated by pre-teen girls, when they fall into the hands of a sexual predator. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/4 "2009-05-12T22:41:24Z")
They let you participate in glurge as a responsible slactivist, with the hope that you’ll be magically paid off for your virtual virtue later. You are an instant authority to the people you send them to, if they buy into it. At the very least, they get attention. Some come with threats of bad luck if you break the chain, or at least lack of good luck that could have come if you hadn’t been such an ungenerous deadbeat. These are started by trolls. They like the power rush of pushing people’s buttons. Most of the ones I get any more feel like networking and making friends. They all have a dozen or so personal questions that you’re supposed to answer and send back upstream while sending the questions on downstream. No threats, just a general 'you don’t want to dissappoint everyone, do you?" They’re chain mail lite. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/5 "2009-05-12T22:44:22Z")
> [@Silophant](#): > > Well, it generally offers better protection than leather armor, and it’s a lot easier to move in than full plate. Yeah, I was expecting to see an explaination along the lines of it spreading out the force of the blow, etc. Glad I wasn’t the only one with that interpretation of the title. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/6 "2009-05-12T23:24:22Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Yeah, I was expecting to see an explaination along the lines of it spreading out the force of the blow, etc. Glad I wasn’t the only one with that interpretation of the title. I vote for this definition of “chain mail” rather than the other one. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/7 "2009-05-12T23:33:43Z")
> [@Silophant](#): > > and it’s a lot easier to move in than full plate. By the way of a hijack, I believe this is a myth born of game designers’ objective to make a variety of armor types have disadvantages so that player choice would be important. While mail is flexible in more directions than jointed plate, and thus appropriate for some difficult-to-armor areas, it is both heavier and less protective than true plate armor in every sense. Properly articulated plate is less burdensome and lighter than a mail hauberk. Mail was universally replaced by plate when technology and finances allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/8 "2009-05-13T16:24:21Z")
What if it’s _mithril_? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/9 "2009-05-13T17:44:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Some come with threats of bad luck if you break the chain, or at least lack of good luck that could have come if you hadn’t been such an ungenerous deadbeat. These are started by trolls. They like the power rush of pushing people’s buttons. What I never could understand were the ones that claimed, in the body of the letter, to have made it around the world five times, and included testimonials about Martha Jones who forwarded it and won the lottery, and Edna Smith who didn’t forward it and got hit by a bus. Often, such testimonials are the _entire_ body of the message. So what in the world did the letter say when Edna and Martha got it? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/10 "2009-05-13T18:13:58Z")
So can this thread be declared officially hijacked from Spam to Midevil Armor? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/11 "2009-05-13T18:29:11Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > So can this thread be declared officially hijacked from Spam to Midevil Armor? No, Spam to **Top** evil Armor. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/12 "2009-05-13T20:11:05Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > So can this thread be declared officially hijacked from Spam to Midevil Armor? No, judging by the thread’s title, it’s the spam that’s the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/13 "2009-05-13T20:47:40Z")
Spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam Spam spam spam - wonderful spam! Suppose he’s got a pointed stick? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/14 "2009-05-13T20:49:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Entertainment for the sadistic? Basically, this. Same motive as those )(\*$#(^ who write computer viruses. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/15 "2009-05-13T20:50:59Z")
In Midevil times, were there more athiests? ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/16 "2009-05-13T20:54:30Z")
My former co-worker used to get emails about how Obama was a secret muslim, the democrats were going to take guns away, etc. A thing about misinformation is that for some if it’s repeated enough, it becomes true in their minds. The perpetrators of those emails probably used them to denounce their perceived opponent and since facts don’t work, misinformation might. ---
**Author:** ![hobscrk777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@hobscrk777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobscrk777)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/17 "2009-05-13T21:04:40Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > What if it’s _mithril_? How about adamantine? Just don’t expose it to sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/18 "2009-05-13T21:51:24Z")
> [@](#): > > In Midevil times, were there more athiests? No, there’s only ever one athiest at a time. You’ve got a bunch of athy people, some of whom are athier than others, and whichever one is the most athy is the athiest. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/19 "2009-05-13T21:57:37Z")
I win. I saw in the mouseover preview that the OP had something to do with emails, and I thought, “Hmm, someone emailed him some facts about armor?” ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224/20 "2009-05-13T22:22:42Z")
I’ve changed the title of the thread to “email” and perhaps people can get back to helping the OP. **samclem** Moderator, General Questions [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chain-email-whats-the-point/496224.md?page=2)