Have you joined my incredibly non-annoying, once-in-a-while email newsletter?
When the majority of emails that are going around about a new startup include the words “apology” and “I had no idea,” it’s usually a sign that that startup isn’t long for this world.
Take Quechup, for example.
Subject: Quechup Apology
Hi,
Please accept my apology for any inconvenience that these unsolicited invitations to join Quechup network has caused you.
It was never my intention to send out invitations to this service and I don’t know how it grabbed my entire contact list.
Please be assured that I never had any intention of annoying friends and colleagues with invitations to join.
Again, I’m sorry about the spam.
-Rob-
____________________________
Rob Daly
Editor
Dealing with Technology
Rob has done nothing wrong (other than perhaps not reading enough technology blogs to know what was coming, as well as giving bloggers like me the chance to point out that this is a technology editor that got nailed) but Quechup did.
Rather than give you the option of choosing who you’d like to email when you join their social networking site, Quechup takes the BAD liberty of emailing EVERYONE in your address book and inviting them, whether you want them to be invited or not.
Like ex-bosses. Ex-girlfriends who no longer speak to you because you slept with their best friend. Your Rabbi or Priest. (Do you really want your Rabbi or Priest on a social networking page with you?)
You get the idea.
Bad Quechup, Bad. And monumentally stupid. See, Facebook asks. You don’t. That’s stupid. That’s annoying. And that’s gonna get you killed.
My prediction: They get shut down shortly – either through their own stupidity, or from a legal move, like the CAN-SPAM act.
End result: If you get an invite to join Quechup, 1) ignore it, and 2) assume it’ll be followed up very shortly by an apology.
