Hey! My name is Taek Kyun (pronounced tech) and I am a Junior in the College of Engineering. I am currently studying Operations Research and as my name’s pronunciation suggests, technology and gadgets are my thing. I grew up in the Bronx but I was born in South Korea. An interesting thing about me is that until this day, I have trouble differentiating between my left from my right, I need a minute or two to figure it out each time. It’s as if something in my head never clicked, and I’ve come to accept that I may never instinctively know which is which.
So, let’s move on to an internet-related phenomenon. How much email do you get daily? 10? 20? How much spam do you get? The topic of this discussion is spam. This phenomenon occurs in the “email space”. Ever since I’ve owned a computer, I was connected to the internet. Starting with America Online and NetZero over a telephone line on a 56k modem to a Cable Broadband connection these days, I’ve sorted through hundred of spam emails daily. Spam had never been a nuisance because of the many effective spam blockers but the extent that the companies go to in order to advertise their business is phenomenal.
Looking into it, I’ve discovered that a lot of the spam comes from websites using “tracking cookie” files that are loaded onto the computers when a website is accessed. These cookies return the user’s information and some recent activities to servers. The receiving servers then use the data to tailor advertisement messages to send out to the email addresses that were acquired. Personally, I believe this is a sleazy method and I can’t think of a single person who enjoys or even looks at the spam mail. This is a phenomenon because even when one carefully avoids websites or services that may generate spam, there is still a disgusting load of spam that ends up in the already congested inboxes.
When the spam blockers and the spam filters fail on the email servers, spam is able to serve its purpose. The people who send out the spam use interesting names and subjects in an attempt to catch our attentions. The most interesting part of spam is the persistence of some of these advertisement companies. I begin to wonder if anyone actually buys or even looks at the messages. I mean, some must, since the spamming hasn’t stopped. I wonder who would consciously sign up for or enlist themselves to receive information from the sketchier spams. In the email online space, spam plays an enduring role in cluttering the mail boxes with unnecessary advertisement. It is a phenomenon that they have been around for so long.
4 comments:
Couldn't agree more, Taek. Spam is very annoying. I love checking my e-mail and get excited when I see I have some new mail waiting for me. However, the excitement is lost once I find out that 9 of my 10 new mails are spam from "John Smith" trying to lure me in with a catchy title such as "You gotta see this!" And the tracking cookie thing? Yes, also a problem. I run a virus scan on my computer twice per week, and there is always a tracking cookie that's hanging around that needs to be deleted. I just wish we could find one ultimate solution that could block ALL spam and eliminate bothersome cookies.
Hey Taek,
Spam is definitely a huge internet related phenomenon. Not only is it huge, but it fits into the category of mischievous/annoying phenomenons. Often times an internet related phenomenon becomes a phenomenon because of its ground breaking ideas which in some way helps or eases a users experience online or totally invents a new form of entertainment or communication. I find this category of annoying internet related phenomenons very interesting because I can’t understand what makes them last so long. Obviously, the large majority of people filter, delete, or ignore these emails. Could the spam companies possibly get any responses or profit from these methods? I would be very curious to find out some of those answers. I, like most everyone, have experienced spam, yet had no idea about the intricacies and processes in which spamming companies go about getting my address, personalizing their emails, and pretend to know me. Your entry explained all of this to me, thanks! Some of the other questions brought up in your blog such as, “who are the people that subscribe to their advertisements,” are very puzzling. This entire phenomenon is, in fact a bit puzzling. On another note, the “email space” is so widely used in day to day life its surprising more phenomenons haven’t sprung up within this space. I can think of only two, g-mail and blackberry (and other mobile emailing devices).
Hey Taek! I found your post really interesting because I've never really understood spam. I still don't really get it. I guess I understand the companies who spam people trying to make money, because if they are sending out so many messages, one in a million must hit and make a profit. They have to be persistent in order to eventually trap someone into actually buying their product. It is interesting to think who creates these kinds of companies though. However, I don't understand the people who spam purely to spread viruses? This might be naive, but what's the point? Who really benefits from it? There can only be so many people around who just think it's funny.
Hey Taek,
I can totally understand your point about how annoying and seemingly pointless spam can be but I do disagree with the fact that you think that spam doesn't work.
According to Iron Port, in June '06 55 billion spam e-mails were sent daily. That means that spammers have 55 billion chances every 24 hours that someone will open up their message by mistake and click on the link or see the image that they want you to see. Enough people just probability wise do open up enough spam be it accidentally or on purpose to make the spam industry profitable.
Also most spam companies use trial servers so that their overhead costs are extremely low as well.
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