I’ve only gotten a few e-mails from Dopers. One instance was when a few posters were trying to warn me of some unpleasantness on the boards, which I appreciated. The rest was from moderators 'splaining to me that the boards had been hijacked and I should change my passwords asap, which I also appreciated.
I agree that it is in bad form to send anyone an e-mail to express your opinion on something they posted on a public msg board. Either have the balls to confront them on the board or shut up.
Well, unless it’s off topic. It’s not always necessary to hijack a thread.
Well geez I thought you’d like hearing from me. 
Seriously though you should be proud you stired someone up enough to get hate mail that’s the first sign of greatness don’t you think.
So you publish your email address on the board and then you get pissed when you recieve email? Are you as dumb as you sound?
Wrong. The OP wasn’t complaining about getting “email”, the OP was complaining about getting rude emails as criticism as opposed to being criticized on thread itself.
Are you as much of a dick as you sound? Letting your email address be available for those who might wish to contact you isn’st stupid.
Contacting someone whose email is available to ask a question or something is one thing. Contacting someone just to bitch about something they said on the boards, and doing so in email rather than on the boards where the comment in question was originally made, is a cowardly thing to do.
How exactly is it cowardly? If your beef is with one person and you contact them and directly, you’re actually confronting the problem, not running away from it.
Just reply with “Unsubscribe” as the subject.
Yes, yes I am.
I’ve used emails to solve problems that didn’t need to be discussed on the boards. I’ve also seen instances when it would have been much better if the parties had emailed each other. I totally agree with dantheman that it is not cowardly to use email.
I’ve never gotten any Dopemail. Quitcher bragging.
Why Give An E-Mail Address?
So that others can seek advice privately.
To help contact folks for Dopefests.
But mostly in the hope that some of the Dopettes will send me nude photos of themselves.
Hope springs eternal when it comes to breasts.
It’s generally rude to email someone in response to a thread, because we want the knowledge to stay in the community, not to be hoarded among a few cognisenti with each others’ email addresses.
The opposite problem comes up on Usenet, when the starter of a thread asks for all replies to be sent to him directly, as opposed to being posted to the newsgroup at large. Those requests are considered highly rude: They imply that the people on the newsgroup are helping you personally, as opposed to putting up info for the public to use. Consultants get paid big bucks to provide personal help. Unless and until you pay me similarly, you can check your email in vain: My responses are going to the newsgroups, and shall be archived by Google Groups until the end of time for all to use.
Flames should be taken to the newsgroups, as well, but for somewhat different reasons: Social norms don’t maintain themselves. Since we can’t physically haul an asshole out of the room, we’ll publicly harass the loser until he gets the point and leaves. Hopefully, a more clue-friendly newbie will gain some free knowledge in the bargain, and be less of a burden on the net at large. After all, a flame in time saves nine.
That’s also why the term plonk is so well-used on Usenet: It’s the sound of a loser hitting your killfile, a public statement that the person is so uninteresting that he’s on your ignore list. The publicity is important: It not only lets the loser know that he may as well stop bothering you, but can hopefully help newbies know that the Way of All Morons is to be ignored by the more intelligent members of any group. That is why the heavy secrecy placed on ignore lists here is so unsettling to me. Banning serves some of the same purposes, but it is not the same.
I’ve gotten some email from Dopers, and developed friendships / acquaintanceships with a few of them. There was the one I received last year that would count as hate mail… apparently, this person had a general problem with me.
F_X
It’s considered generally rude by whom, exactly? For many people this is a message board, not an insular community or some autonomous collective. The knowledge must stay in the community, indeed. Not only is that a load of dung, it’s reverse-elitist - the idea that everyone is entitled to know everything at all times.
If it’s off topic but still in response to a thread, it’s certainly not rude to email the person about it, if they’ve provided their email address. What would be rude would be posting to the thread what would have been in the email - if, as I said, that content was off topic. Far too often here people hijack for no particular reason other than to glorify themselves.
I wouldn’t consider it rude unless it were a flame.
I’ve never had abusive doper mail in my inbox, and it isn’t as though I don’t have strong opinions about things.
BTW, who on earth would send nasty mail to that master of diplomacy Mangetout, of all people?!
You would have done, but the other DubDopers were watching.
Well, Washte once offered to send him some cornbread mix.
That’s eeeeeeeeeeevil!
Palewriter hasn’t posted in here since the OP. Maybe I should email him/her to see if everything’s okay.
Oh, you wouldn’t believe some of the shit that shows up in my inbox some days.
Of course, it’s all coming from one or two problem children with sticks up their asses, so I’m not too worried just yet. And often, it’s quite hilarious. [ul][li]Some nitwit we banned (I honestly forget what his name was) e-mailed me and explained that he was a US attorney (at least I think that’s what he said, the e-mail was filled to the brim with spelling and syntax errors), and that he had arranged for my access to the United States to be revoked, what with my admitted background of abuse of alcohol and marijuana and all. Never did get that anal visitation at customs, though. []This other guy (an American residing in China) keeps e-mailing me ever since we banned him (and then banned a few returnee registrations), calling me a Nazi as well as an overly PC left-wing bastard. Yeah, I know. He can’t write for shit, either.[]Various one-off insults, usually by 5 post wonders that weren’t meant to be on the SDMB, judging by their hostility and lack of verbal skills.[/ul]I tend to forward them to my fellow mods, for laughs. Then, they get deleted. [/li]
I’m sure this post will get me another batch of hate mail. Oh, well.