Is E-mail Always “On the Record?”

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It can be a PR person’s worst nightmare. You email a reporter or blogger, somehow thinking the conversation is off the record, only to find, “Company spokesperson John Smith said – insert damaging quote here” in an big story the next day.

These days, it seems everything is on the record.

Have you considered adding something like this to your e-mail signature?

“this email is: [ ] bloggable [x] ask first [ ] private”

I’ve seen this on more and more e-mails lately, and it makes sense to me.

Hat tip to Ross Mayfield for starting the trend, and yes, Julia Allison for reminding me to post something about it.

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