Personalization has quickly gone from being the hottest new "must-have" for e-content to the most misunderstood and misused e-accessory.

Some e-zine writers are particularly guilty of crossing the line between good touch - bad touch. I've noticed a trend lately towards using business newsletters to share the writer's most private, intimate troubles, deviating entirely from the focus of the publication.

For example, here are excerpts from three highly- respected, high-circulation online marketing newsletters, all published within a few days of each other. Names have been omitted to protect those guilty of sharing too much:

Exhibit A: "If you're wondering how mom is doing, she went through round one of chemotherapy. No problems. Not bald yet. It takes more than one treatment to lose your hair! Overall in excellent spirits, feeling quite well. Thanks for your prayers on her behalf."

Exhibit B: "Hi, I'm back! Did you miss me? I didn't publish yesterday because I was in the hospital getting a PET scan (no, they weren't looking for hamsters in my colon;-). A PET scan is the latest imaging technology. It creates a 3-D image of your entire body using giant cameras and nuclear physics. Cool, huh?"

Exhibit C: "My father passed away on Sunday. He died in his sleep, the way he wanted. Thank you to the 200 of you who sent me your thoughts after the last article about him. I wrote the eulogy for his funeral with the help of the rest of my family. If you'd like to find out why he was so special, take a look at the eulogy at