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Comment by thomasedwards | Hacker News Reader

The problem with everyone doing some of these tips is that I now just ignore all emails that appear to be from people instead because I don’t ever believe it’s from a real person, so unless I’m expecting an email from someone I won’t open these anymore and I just skim the subject. Not sure if people outside of the web community do this too, but probably only a matter of time if not.

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I see it as part of the arms race where people find channels or signals for communications they actually care about, then marketers discover they can get more engagement using them, and vomit their noise all over it.

The problem is that the "personal e-mail" signal can be faked cheaply as they have discovered.

I kind of wish e-mail worked such that anyone who isn't in my contact list has to pay me to send me an e-mail. I'm not sure what the right amount is, maybe $1.

EDIT: It's also a kind of tragedy of the commons. If you're the first marketer to fake the signal it will work very well. Once everyone does it, congratulations, you've ruined it for everyone, including people who are not faking it.

I largely do the same. Mixpanel uses this technique right now. I do not think Cassie is actually trying to reach me about webinars but if you are Cassie, send me a whats up so I know.

I still think trying to look like a real person probably makes me pay more attention. This definitely works if there is any "real" interaction with that person in the onboarding.

Not just you. It’s a recipe for having your emails deleted without opening.

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