Why I email complete strangers

A low-risk way to dip your toes in is to email a blogger to say that you enjoyed their post or that you found it helpful. The message doesn’t have to have useful information in it, just be sincere. Per OP, often there won’t be a reply but also often it’s much appreciated - particularly by non-mainstream writers.

I've received a couple of emails about ghidra-delinker-extension, but I would not limit this to only emails. I've also had numerous people contacting me through GitHub issues or Discord messages over the years, with this as a topic starter.

I've had deep technical exchanges with smart people all across the world I would've never met otherwise. I've seen people using my tool for completely insane projects successfully. I've even had a data scientist from India who was inspired and motivated by my story of presenting at ACM 2025 as a hobbyist to put his work out there.

Interacting with all these people has broadened my horizons - literally going halfway across the globe in one instance. All of that happened despite me being an introvert, who hates initiating any form of social interactions with people and sounds like a raving lunatic on my blog.

Maybe I should be the one to send out more emails...

I have emailed people based on a YouTube video, podcast episode, blog post, or just browsing a project on GitHub. If their email address is available I see that as permission to contact them for "wholesome" purposes. A few things that come to mind:

1. clarification on something in particular that they have already published

2. engage in genuine discussion about adjacent topics in which their opinion is specifically relevant

3. expressions of appreciation

4. corrections of information to prevent genuine harm or significant frustration for others

My success rate is probably 50-75% but I only do it a few times per year.

Cold-calling to get people try try your new app or answer a survey is rude.

Whenever I write something that gets some traction, I get emails. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. One of them is from a guy that tells me "I love your blog, but you got terrible spelling." If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't bother doing a spellcheck before publishing.

I agree with this and have received insights on difficult challenges, but I've found that each year it gets more difficult to find an email address for someone.

> The first time I emailed a stranger, I swear my cursor hovered over Send for a full five minutes.

I would estimate communication is 95% non verbal and 5% verbal. The problem with online interaction is you are limited to this 5% while interacting with an almost infinite number of social groups and people.

Learning how to adapt to online socialization is learning how to adapt to being blind. Only you aren't blind, you are choosing to wear a blindfold.

I’ve had about 10 emails about things I’ve said or presented on this website. I haven’t replied to all of them, which makes me feel bad because each one of them was a nice little surprise on any random day. I worry that no response makes people feel bad. I just can’t respond sometimes because of the anxiety I struggle with. But gosh do I love hearing from strangers about anything. I bet if I can get more comfortable talking with strangers I’ll really enjoy being old one day.

I receive a dozen or so emails a year from people who read my free sci-fi books. they are generally to say thanks, or to point out spelling errors or something factually incorrect that I have usually fixed. Most are shocked I reply. I guess quite a few also get zapped by my aggressive spam filters, which with the amount of spam I get is going to make it a real problem in the future.

You can email anyone if there's something you need to communicate to them. Since when was it ever a big deal to email someone you don't know?

I assumed this was a longform "Ode to Spam"

...I'm still not sure it isn't. :)

I email strangers all the time relating to my businesses. But for "personal" time? Gives me the shivers.

I emailed Lenstra about some ancient history, we had a nice chat.

RSA129 - I have a color copy of the prize check. I asked how many he sent out.

Their silence says nothing about your worth. They might be busy, taking a break from email, or not in a place where they can engage with new folk…who knows? And what does it matter?

Or it gets filtered as spam. very common

I used to. I do much less now that email is no longer available for whois results from domains because of GDPR. It really killed communication on the internet. The switch to non-protocol based corporate communication services was the other half of killing it.

> Allow me to explain.

No.

[dead]

He's right, we really have forgotten that email can just be about reaching out to strangers for honest communication.

Maybe I'll have Claude send him a thank you.