Seven Castles

Chain Letters

                                      

October 3, 2007

 

A chain letter is a letter sent to a number of people asking each recipient to send copies with the same request to a specified number of others. The circulation of a chain letter increases in geometrical progression as long as all recipients follow the instructions.

 

Throughout its short history, the chain letter has attracted strong criticism. The promise of good fortune is often linked with the explicit threat of misfortune if one does not obey the instructions, and some people are upset by these threats.

 

A typical chain letter consists of a message that attempts to induce the recipient to make a number of copies of the letter and then pass them on to one or more new recipients. Common methods used by chain letters include emotionally manipulative stories, get-rich-quick pyramid schemes, and the exploitation of superstition to threaten the recipient with bad luck or even physical violence or death if he or she "breaks the chain" and refuses to adhere by the conditions set out by the letter.

 

With the development of fax, e-mail, the Internet and mobile SMS, chain letters have become much more common and quick to spread than when they were transmitted purely by physical mail, although they are explicitly discouraged as a breach of netiquette and some service providers prohibit users from sending chain e-mails in their terms of service. Chain letters, as a waste of time, are just to attract attentions and make someone's scam popular. I would not even bother opening it, kind of reminds me of phishing attempts nowadays in the digital world. 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2007年10月3日 星期三 06:32】【注册】【打印】