There’s been a lot of talk in the blogging and IM world recently about spamming & etchis (but then again, isn’t there always?).
That said, the comment thread on this post got me thinking about the issue.
Think about MySpace (or other social networking sites) “spam.”
You immediately have a scenario in mind of what constitues spam on such sites. But I could ask 3 people what is spam on said sites and would receive three very different answers.
Is it spam when a band sends a friend request to someone they don’t know? Is it spam when that band sends an accompanying message introducing themselves & explaining their music & why you might be interested in it? What about after you’ve accepted their friend request - is it spam when they post a comment to your page with a flyer for their next show?
What about if the approacher isn’t a band, but a MLM‘er? And you’ve expressed on your profile that you’re interested in business oportunities & networking?
One has to keep in mind that these sites are designed to help people reach other people - both that they know and those they don’t know yet.
How about social bookmarking sites… Or Digg / StumbleUpon. Their premise is to share content that you find valuable with others. Well, you probably think your own websites are valuable and perhaps you bookmark them. Seeing as the bookmark didn’t originate from an unbiased site visitor, that could be called spam.
What about forming StumbleUpon networks, where groups agree to Stumble each others’ content first. Again, not exactly an unbiased review of the content. But is it spam?
Andy Beard posted about the Twitter bot that is probably in development somewhere. Mashable already posts it’s headlines to Twitter (automated or not, I don’t know… or care). And Mashable’s account is one of the most followed at Twitter. But that’s certainly not within Twitter’s original purpose, and I’m also certain that there are some users who find the content irrelevant & annoying (so they probably just ignore it, more on that later). Since it’s apparently OK for Mashable to do it, would you be as well received for doing the same - or would you be called a spammer?
There’s forum and blog posting of 1 line responses and comments for the backlink and possible traffic it generates. Posting comments on YouTube videos to generate views & interest in your own profile is another example. Paying people to review your content or giving reciprocal reviews are still other examples. James Brausch often gives things away for a trackback. None of these are completely natural - and some think it’s cool, while others abhor the very idea.
All this reminds me back to black & white hat SEO arguments I’ve seen at forums and within blogs since I started in IM. There is, ultimately, no point in arguing what constitutes blackhat or whitehat, as each individual sets his personal “line in the sand.” Is creating 5 blogs at different services that aggregate your RSS feed spamming the SE’s? You’ll find too many opinions to count.
Ever asked a friend of a friend on a date and had them respond by looking at you like you’ve got herpes? Maybe you were personally spamming them.
The most common definition of spam seems to be “content I did not want or intend to attract.” But many fail to realize that:
- That very content you didn’t find appealing might be incredibly valuable and interesting to someone else. And…
- You put yourself out there to be contacted - be it via a social networking/bookmarking site, forum post or blog.
So, if one has put himself in a place where the purpose, literally by definition, is to network, can a contact from that place be spam?
I think it’s an intersting concept to ponder, and it reminds me of the adage “When you lay with the dogs, you’ll get fleas.” Or, “Be careful what you wish for.”
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the issue in the comments - and I’ve removed Wordpress’s default “nofollow” tag within comments as a “thank you” for your participaion in discussion here. (Hey - that’s an incentive to post.. maybe that’s spam too).
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Spam is way more complex in web 20 than in the old one. I never thought about it with this angle. Spam is relative.
I’ve set up a new forum, and I moderated the first spam today! The man cam and posted buy tramadol… You know. I edited the post since I clearely mentionned that in the rules, but did he bother to read them?
I think that when you enter a community, you should know the rules, otherwise you will make a mistake, and even if you think it’s legitimate, other will see it as spam.
And yes, Spam here may not be Spam elsewhere.
I doubt the guy came to the forum - it was probably done via a bot (computer), not by hand. So no, no one read the forum rules.
That’s the nature of this kind of mass-marketing, the plan is to hit up as many places (in your case, forums) as possible and hope some who’s interested will see it.
I assume your forum isn’t about finding cheap prescription drugs, right?
You are right Michelle.
Note: It can seems bizarre, but I DO read forum rules…
I read forum rules too before I post - I think it’s the least one can do when entering a new community.
I think it all comes down to whether or not there is a meaningful contribution to the community. I too think it can be relative to the social networking site. For example, posting links to your jewelry store on Digg would probably be considered spam, while creating a Squidoo lens about your jewelry would not.
Spam is very much in the eye of the beholder, and some people must have very big eyes!
I got flamed in the late 90s for posting a link to a music site on several Usenet newsgroups (some people even called me a spammer), even though the link was relative to the interests of the groups in question.
Of course the very best advertisements are the ones you don’t recognise as advertisements: spam in general doesn’t fall into that category. “Buy V 1 A G A R A” is almsot always going to be a scam. Only the very stupid would be taken in, surely?
Sadly, spam will be with us forever. In the 21st Century, Social Media Marketing — or SMM — is going to become an arms race of ad-posting and countermeasure.
The only limits are human imagination which, supposedly, is limitless, and human stupidity which is inevitable.
I agree with Justin..it all comes down to whether or not there is a meaningful contribution to the community. Of course that too is subject to personal opinion. Maybe it just all comes down to the random moods of those affected
I think it works the same way in the real world. One person’s trash is another’s treasure. We can all identify blatant spam, but there are gray areas. Like you said, just follow the rules in the community you are in.
It certainly is relative and I always read the rules as well, but sometimes it is difficult to see the line.
For example, if there are coupon forums and you have relevant, quality coupons from legitimate retailers on your site; is it spam to link to your site? Some forums may allow it, but others may not, even though the coupons will certainly help the forum members.
Does anyone have any thoughts on that? I only ask because I want to market in the right way and not be considered a spammer, but still want to be involved in social communities.
I just wonder at what point does any of the spam matter? I’m sure most everyone still gets that big package of junk mail once a week and if you’re like me you throw it away without really ever looking at it. I personally have become so de-sensitized to spam that I just disregard it.