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Take back your inbox!

Posted by: Tara Bostock on Jan 11, 2010

Since my mom discovered the Internet, she has been a voracious forwarder of e-mails. I get all kinds of stuff from her-morality tales, IQ tests, and even one titled "Interesting Aspirin Information." Really? I'm not sure what I would find "interesting" about aspirin. But alas, my mom is only doing what all her friends do, sharing stuff via this magical thing called the Internet.

Lately, however, my mom's been pretty quiet on the forwarding front. When pressed about why I wasn't receiving my daily dose of viral videos and puppy pictures, she revealed that it's because she's actually embarrassed to forward the e-mails she's been getting from her more conservative friends, colleagues, and even our relatives. In the fury surrounding the health care debate, the forwards my mom and others all around the country are receiving have spiraled into uncomfortable territory. Many of them are full of lies and misinformation, and some are even hateful towards the President and others trying to accomplish health care reform.

My mom, though a tough cookie, doesn't want to ruffle the feathers of close friends and relatives by sending opposing responses to these e-mails, so she's stayed mostly quiet. But now is not the time to stay quiet, moms of America! If your mom or dad-or you or your friends-are receiving these types of forwards, you can do something about it.

Check out the Media Matters Email Checker. It has a constantly updated list of the "most egregious chain and viral emails" and gives responses chock full of the truths that these forwards are seriously lacking. Get a side-by-side bill comparison here at the Kaiser Family Foundation and inundate the offending forwarder with facts, or check out our plethora of resources about how to talk to your friends and family about health reform in the Talk to Your Neighbor campaign. Respond with the facts! Take back your inbox!