by Bethaney Wallace

Receiving a carbon copy email – the exact same message others receive, just one address box lower – is a common practice throughout email senders. Although its exact purpose cannot be pinned down, the CC was most likely invented as a way to inform parties, but show they are not needed to respond – a message that logic can also provide. “Great, I needed to know that, but I don’t need to respond,” one might say after reading an email about parking assignments or the forecast. But what the inventor of the CC failed to realize is that, despite subject matter, recipients don’t respond to every single email. We don’t need a specification that does the filtering for us.

The History

A term hailing from the olden days, when literal carbon copies were made from papers or contracts, users had to write with a firm hand to ensure the transfer of paper to carbon layers was made. During this interaction, the most important party would receive the top copy, which had each form properly and boldly filled in with ink. A middle copy almost always read the proper information, having made a successful transfer. While the bottom layer would often be missing dates and other info. The lower down on the priority list you became, the further back your carbon paper was placed. In other words, carbon copy = not important. ( Read more )