"I can't help but wonder what the long-term business effects are of intentionally damaging your relationships with your customers by wasting their time and choosing to prioritize arbitrary business priorities (eg, e-mail click-through rates) over actual user satisfaction."Exaggerate much?
As I said to your other comment, sometimes it's in everyone's best interest to promote engagement. If you're running a product with a strong social component, it isn't an "arbitrary business priority" to want to get people back to the site.
As in all things, good judgment is key.