Spam Is The Scourge Of E-Mail And Social Internet Sites Such As Facebook, Myspace And Linkedin. Can The Small Minority Who Exploit These Systems Be Successfully Abolished?



If you use e-mail, visit social network sites or are employed in one of the millions of Online Jobs, you will have almost certainly seen many forms of unsolicited mails and ads sent to you under a range of guises. Spam is posted right to your e-mail inbox, to the annoyance of most people in the Internet Business. Spam is roughly categorised as the indiscriminate transmission of bulk messages via electronic messaging systems. Spam can congest mailboxes, slow down servers and cause discomfort to families, due to its inappropriate subject matter. It pervades almost all aspects of web interaction, from Search Engines to Social Networking along with e-mail and blogs.

So why is it so common and so hard to stop? Well if you own a dubious Internet Business, selling subscription pornography or imitation luxury goods, normal avenues of advertising are not an option, due to rigorous ethical policies set out by companies like Yahoo and Google etc. So these companies employ all kinds of methods to make a connection to your private mailbox or your internet identity. Some capture user groups or social network groups under bogus names. Some compile blogs or send articles to online publishers, containing bogus links directing readers to porn sites or other unsavoury locations.

Well, just close their e-mail address or unique identifier, you might well say. Not so simple, because e-mail addresses are disposable and incessantly configurable. The barriers to entry for spammers are so low that these firms can afford to have people who even Work From Home, rearranging e-mail addresses and writing blogs and adverts for all manner of businesses. With low operatingcosts and perpetually changing identities, spammers are difficult to find and put on trial. In some countries there are hundreds of badly paid people who are prepared to Work From Home doing this kind of work. They can be fired instantly if an investigation gets close to identifying a likely spammer.

Even if your Internet Business is not criminal it can still be socially unacceptable to put out advertising on the web. Web content is extremely hard to regulate because spammers mask their true intentions within plausible blogs, emails or embedded links. Lots of Online Jobs require people to review blogs, critique articles and then write a comeback. By inadvertently clicking on an embedded link, you can be unexpectedly transported to a graphic pornography site with audio and lively pictures. Embarrassing enough you may think. Nevertheless by acknowledging the link to their website, you will most likely have their “cookie” in your system. That “cookie” can be utilised to send you progressively more material, day after day after day. If you do not clean up your software, you may be deluged with hundreds of e-mails with similar subject matter.

The Social Network companies invest millions in trying to block spammers but they are a resilient group of people. So I consider that we are a long way from eradicating spam from the World Wide Web. If you Work From Home or simply have a home e-mail account, you are not likely to have access to an IT department, to filter or check spam and other inappropriate materials. People with Online Jobs or who use a pc for social purposes should be more conscious antivirus products will also help in blocking spam, and keep your pc free from viruses.