Most social networking sites, membership websites and company support departments send “blind” messages to users (or members) through their system. I’m going to use Facebook as an example to make this easier to explain. If someone on Facebook logs into their Facebook account and sends you an email, Facebook will send you an email to let you know that you have received a new message in your Facebook inbox. The email that you get from Facebook will actually show the message that your fellow Facebook user sent to you.
While conducting my workshops on how to use social networking sites, it came to my attention that numerous people are simply clicking “reply” in their email program, typing a response to the email and then clicking send. What they didn’t realize was that their email response was going into a black hole! And that the intended recipient never sees their response!
The reason these messages go into a black hole is because Facebook sends “blind” messages. That means that when they send you an email notification of a message a member sent you, they are hiding your email address and the email of the sender and there is no valid email address that you can reply to. This is done to protect your identity from the sender in case they are not a Facebook Friend and you don’t want to have any direct contact with them.
As I mentioned, most social networking sites and membership sites send “blind” messages. Many companies also send them, especially from their support staff. You therefore need to know what to look for before simply clicking the reply button. Whenever you get a message, look to see what shows up in the “from” section of the email.
If it is a “blind” message from Facebook it will say something like: Facebook [notification+ys_2jftc@facebookmail.com].
If it is a “blind” message from LinkedIn it will most likely say: messages-noreply@bounce.linkedin.com.
When you receive a “blind” message from a website, the only way you can reply to it is by logging into your account on that website and replying to the message through your account inbox.
If an email is truly coming directly from an individual, you should see their email address in the “from” section of the email header.
I hope this helps you get your messages out of the black hole and into your intended recipient’s email inbox. If you have any questions or comments, please add them as a “comment” to this blog post.
Remember, don’t reply to no-reply!
Kimberly Yow
Marketing That’s Easy.com
P.S. - I consult & train businesses on how to promote their business on the internet and get found! Subscribe to this blog via RSS Feed or Email so you don't miss any Free Tips! @KimberlyYow
Additional Posts You May Be Interested in Reading:
