CC (Carbon Copy) and BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) are two fields used when sending e-mails to attract additional recipients.
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When you add an email address to the CC field (simply a copy in Ukrainian), it means that you are sending a copy of the letter to that person, and all other participants in the correspondence see who else received that copy. This is useful for ensuring transparency in work or group emails.
BCC (in Ukrainian - a hidden copy) differs in that although you also send a copy of the letter to the addressees who were added to this field, the names of these addressees are not displayed for other recipients of the letter. This is useful for keeping recipients private, for example, when sending messages to a large group of people (such as advertising).
BCC the function is important in marketing. Sending an advertising email to many addressees is very easy:
all addressees are specified in BCC at the same time (no need to create and send separate letters);
the list of addressees is kept private (none of the recipients will see the email addresses of others);
There are situations where marketers inadvertently add all recipients to CC (instead of BCC), thereby 'merging' a valuable customer base. This can have very negative consequences.
Why the name carbon copy?
The term "carbon copy" (CC), which translates to "copy on copying paper", comes from the method of creating copies of documents before the advent of digital technologies. For this, copying paper was used, which was placed between two sheets of ordinary paper. When written or printed on the top sheet, pressure transferred ink from the copy paper to the bottom sheet, creating a copy of the original.
This method allowed simultaneous creation of copies of the letter at the time of its writing. This physical process is reflected in the function name "CC" in emails where users can send "copies" of the email to additional recipients. Thus, the historical technique of creating copies gave the name to this function in modern email systems.
Blind (blind) - an additional word that characterizes the additional function of hiding addressees.
How does the 'answer' function work if the email has SS and BCC?
The "reply" feature in emails works slightly differently depending on whether you chose to "reply" or "reply to all". Here's how it works with addresses added to CC and BCC fields:
Reply (Reply): If you simply click "reply", your reply will only be sent to the person who sent you the email. The addresses entered in the CC and BCC fields in the original letter will not receive your reply.
Reply All: This option will send your reply not only to the person who sent you the letter, but also to everyone else whose addresses were listed in the CC field of the original letter.
However, it is important to note that addresses that were in the BCC field will not receive your response, even if you use "reply to all". This is because the BCC address information is not stored in the letter.
BCC remains confidential and hidden from all. But the BCC addressee does not receive an answer if the option was used - to answer everyone.
What does SS mean in chats?
In chats, especially in corporate messengers such as Slack or Microsoft Teams, CC is used to include additional people in the chat/discussion. For example, you can discuss some problem. But there is still a person in the company who has some information about a specific situation. You can "call" her wrote CC: @username@ what will mean - Hey @username, pay attention to this discussion and join.
It's more like a tribute to the style of emails. In chats, you can simply call people to join the discussion without using acronym CC.
