email bankruptcy
{{Short description|Communication management method}}
Email bankruptcy is deleting or ignoring all emails older than a certain date, due to an overwhelming volume of messages. The term is usually attributed to author Lawrence Lessig in 2004,{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR2007052402258.html |title=E-Mail Reply to All: 'Leave Me Alone' |newspaper=The Washington Post |accessdate=15 November 2007 |author=Mike Musgrove |date=25 May 2007 }} though it can also be attributed to Sherry Turkle in 2002.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/14/technology/essay-in-lost-e-mail-a-dividend.html |title=ESSAY: In Lost E-Mail, a Dividend |work=The New York Times |accessdate=10 August 2021 |author=Constance Rosenblum |date=14 February 2002 }} An insurmountable volume or backlog of legitimate messages (e.g. on return from an extended absence) usually leads to bankruptcy.
During the act of declaring email bankruptcy, a message is usually sent to all senders explaining the problem, that their message has been deleted, and that if their message still requires a response they should resend their message.{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2652797.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20080511144219/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2652797.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 11, 2008 |title=Office staff hit delete in war on e-mail monster |work=The Times |accessdate=15 November 2007 |date=14 October 2007 |author=John Harlow }}{{cite news
|url=https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2004/06/63733 |title=Call it the Dead E-Mail Office |work=Wired News |accessdate=7 June 2004 |date=7 June 2004 }}{{cite newsgroup |title=Re: PING Tuesday |author=Tuesday Knight |date=23 October 2003 |newsgroup=alt.religion.wicca |message-id=BBBC8C9C.516E1%tuesday@hellmouthcentral.com |url=https://groups.google.com/group/alt.religion.wicca/msg/16712075d4953f3a |accessdate=8 June 2012 }}
Similarly, the inability to maintain an overview over messages in an instant messenger chat room may be referred to as chat room bankruptcy.{{cite web |last1=Crittenden |first1=Mike |title=If it will matter after today, stop talking about it in a chat room |url=https://critter.blog/2021/01/12/if-it-matters-after-today-stop-talking-about-it-in-a-chat-room/ |website=Critter.Blog |access-date=6 July 2022 |language=en |date=12 January 2021}}