Spring Break
Mail Goggles still leave room for error
Issue date: 10/29/08 Section: Editorial/Opinion
10/29/08 - As if Google hasn't got everything already, it just recently added a feature to its e-mail service aimed at saving the reputations of the dreaded drunken e-mailers list: Mail Goggles.
No, seriously.
Gmail engineer Jon Perlow, the creator of the Labs feature, wrote the program in hopes of preventing "that late night Friday e-mail" to the law firm after a night at the local watering hole.
But does it really do anything? If someone is extremely intoxicated, it's one way around sending a message you might regret later - perhaps an e-mail to an ex-girlfriend saying that she ruined your life, or a late night message to your boss about how much you hate being his or her "coffee bitch" might never be seen.
But a couple of simple math problems are all that stand in the way of a painful wake-up call the next morning.
Is it realistic to think that drunk students can't solve 59-49, 43+21, 5x2, 12x10 and 61+14 in 43 seconds? All it takes sometimes is a little buzz to send that unintentional message, not necessarily five or six vodka shots down the line.
The director of the psychology department may have a point - the Mail Goggles may create an unrealistic safety net. If people know the prevention technique is there, they might be even more likely to write e-mails after a long night of drinking, knowing their settings are set to tell them if they're too intoxicated to speak what's on their minds.
While that may seem like the true purpose of the feature, the intention of it really serves as a last resort for the occasional "whoops."
If an intoxicated person really wants to get a message across to someone else, they may become so frustrated by the feature that they turn to an even worse outlet of expression - AIM or the phone.
It might be useful to the small percentage of those who are chronic drunk e-mailers, but more regrets seem to come in the form of Facebook messages, texts and phone calls than e-mails.
Instead of trying to stick a Band-Aid on the issue, it's better to tackle it head on. The problem is that when students drunk e-mail, the alcohol becomes a sort of truth serum. Inhibitions melt away.
But if students learned to express their thoughts clearly and more accurately to other people when they were sober, it's less likely that they will wake up with that "whoops" feeling the next day.
In a world where dozens of communication pathways are available, use whichever ways fit you best to communicate to the people you interact with - sober.
Don't rely on something Google dreamed up to be your censor. Part of growing up is learning to be your own censor and living with your own mistakes.
No, seriously.
Gmail engineer Jon Perlow, the creator of the Labs feature, wrote the program in hopes of preventing "that late night Friday e-mail" to the law firm after a night at the local watering hole.
But does it really do anything? If someone is extremely intoxicated, it's one way around sending a message you might regret later - perhaps an e-mail to an ex-girlfriend saying that she ruined your life, or a late night message to your boss about how much you hate being his or her "coffee bitch" might never be seen.
But a couple of simple math problems are all that stand in the way of a painful wake-up call the next morning.
Is it realistic to think that drunk students can't solve 59-49, 43+21, 5x2, 12x10 and 61+14 in 43 seconds? All it takes sometimes is a little buzz to send that unintentional message, not necessarily five or six vodka shots down the line.
The director of the psychology department may have a point - the Mail Goggles may create an unrealistic safety net. If people know the prevention technique is there, they might be even more likely to write e-mails after a long night of drinking, knowing their settings are set to tell them if they're too intoxicated to speak what's on their minds.
While that may seem like the true purpose of the feature, the intention of it really serves as a last resort for the occasional "whoops."
If an intoxicated person really wants to get a message across to someone else, they may become so frustrated by the feature that they turn to an even worse outlet of expression - AIM or the phone.
It might be useful to the small percentage of those who are chronic drunk e-mailers, but more regrets seem to come in the form of Facebook messages, texts and phone calls than e-mails.
Instead of trying to stick a Band-Aid on the issue, it's better to tackle it head on. The problem is that when students drunk e-mail, the alcohol becomes a sort of truth serum. Inhibitions melt away.
But if students learned to express their thoughts clearly and more accurately to other people when they were sober, it's less likely that they will wake up with that "whoops" feeling the next day.
In a world where dozens of communication pathways are available, use whichever ways fit you best to communicate to the people you interact with - sober.
Don't rely on something Google dreamed up to be your censor. Part of growing up is learning to be your own censor and living with your own mistakes.
