What Shamu Taught Me About E-mail

This summer, "What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage" became a cultural phenomenon. Immediately after Amy Sutherland's "Modern Love" column appeared in the New York Times, the piece became the most e-mailed article on the Web site, and fluctuated between the top two spots for weeks and weeks. The column was an ultra-long narrative about how ignoring her husband's annoying behavior would make it go away-a tactic she learned from the whale trainers at Sea World. After weeks at the top, the media-centric blogosphere couldn't resist wondering why Sutherland's column had garnered such constant attention. Rachel Sklar, on the Huffington Post, asked "What is it about Shamu? Why are readers seeking his wise counsel in droves? Is it because 'Shamu' is such a fun word to say, or is there more?" But I thought they were all missing the point. What I was asking was, "What is it about the most e-mailed list on the Times Web site? Why aren't readers just sending mass e-mails with the link to the article in the body of the e-mail? Is it because memorizing our friends' e-mail addresses so that we can send them self-help lifestyle trend pieces is so fun, or is there more?"

Even though the Shamu fad has passed, I still wonder. The list renews itself daily, and offers an enigmatic glimpse into the trendiest trend pieces and the New Yorkers who e-mail them. Or does it?

The New York Times Web site draws around 13 million unique visitors a month. The time actually invested on the site, however, is scant: the average visitor in March spent about a minute a day on it. A whole minute to glance at the headlines and be aware of what articles grace the "most popular" box, which also includes the "most blogged" and the "most searched." Online Times editors have mentioned repeatedly in interviews that the "most popular" box has been, well, one of the most popular, but that they are wary of "taking the list of most e-mailed stories too seriously, because they aren't sure of who is sending them." But I think it's good to take them seriously-as jokes. As Jack Shaffer writes in a Slate article about the Shamu deal, "The most e-mailable stories amalgamate the mundane to create something novel ... A certain class of people love e-mailing links to such articles. The only effective way of discouraging them is to send the mail back marked with the subject head 'Unsuscribe.'"

It's impossible not to find it fascinating that two of the top five most e-mailed pieces in the last thirty days are, simply and exquisitely, about ... bread. The most e-mailed piece in the last 24 hours is about the pursuit of ultra-wealth and how it affects career choices that are typically already well-paying, such as medicine or banking. Today's list includes in its assortment an op-ed called "My Life As a Dog," an essay about a mother force-feeding her anorexic daughter, and one about the proper way to sign an e-mail in the digital age (Should I always write "best"? Can I say "xoxo"?). There's the kind of trend piece that is widely popular with those who identify or relate, I imagine, with the lifestyle-presented-as-news in pieces like "Cosmopolitan Moms." Perhaps that made it to the list because all the moms who had cocktails while their kids were on playdates sent it to the other moms who did so too, basking in their now legitimized ways. Then there's the trend or scientific study piece that people share in hopes, probably, of applying it to their own lives, like "Yes, Red Wine Holds The Answer. Check the Dosage," about a report that a substance found in red wine might alleviate the detrimental effects of a high-calorie diet. Whichever it is, the articles are dispersed through cyberspace, meant for others, but ultimately indicative mostly of the select well-off individuals who have the time and desire to share or be hopeful about news relevant to their lifestyle.

A journalism professor and Times writer once told me that because the site lets you send an article automatically without having to compose a separate e-mail with a link, "the most e-mailed feature is only telling about people who don't know how to use computers." He made me laugh, but then I just felt embarrassed for having mentioned an article from the list moments earlier. The only times I've ever used the "e-mail this" feature on the site, it's been to send stories to my parents, or my brother, but I always seem to use examples from the list as cultural indicators of some kind. The beauty of the list is that it's as inaccurate and vague as it is telling, and I can't help but give it all that credit. And even though the Times' site is the most-visited newspaper site in the world, I would venture to say that judging from the nature of the pieces that are list favorites, a majority of the senders stay local, and through sharing, they have something to prove-or aspire to.

True story: This morning, I e-mailed myself an article from the site as research. I looked for the most ridiculous-sounding headline on the front page, and I sent it to myself. I ended up choosing that op-ed contributor piece called "My Life as a Dog," and as the day proceeded, that very piece climbed the most e-mailed list, and now rests at the top three spot. I realized hours later that Jonathan Safran Foer wrote it, and even if I didn't relate because I don't like dogs and I don't know if whoever I send it to will either, now I'm going to have to send it to someone, because, well, he's amazing. And he's in the Times. And people just have to know.