Social networking spam

Social networking spam

Social networking spam is spam directed at users of internet social networking services such as MySpace. Users of social networking services can send notes, that may include embedded links to other social network locations or even outside sites, to one another.

This is where the social network spammer comes in. Utilizing the social network's search tools, he/she can target a certain demographic segment of the users, and send notes to them from an account disguised as that of a real person. Such notes typically include embedded links to pornographic or other product sites designed to sell something. As of 2006, spamming software such as FriendBot is available to automate this process.

Unfortunately for victims, until recently no filters were available for MySpace notes. The best a MySpace user could do was block notes from the sender's address. MySpace now includes an option for users to “report spam/abuse” addresses. Spammers, however, frequently change their address from one throw-away account to another.

Some social networking sites also ask users to let them access their address books and contact lists and use email invites for viral marketing. This is controversial as it requests the permission of the address book owner but not the owner of the email addresses within it. This situation is made more complex by users not reading what the information will be used for. The social networking site Quechup, run by iDate corporation is a recent example. Quechup was criticized by many users for misleading them and hiding the nature of the feature in the 'small print' of the site's terms. Contrary to this text explaining how the feature worked was placed in normal print directly above the feature. [ [http://chrishambly.com/content/quechup-and-mass-hysteria Quechup And Mass Hysteria] - "Chris Hambly", 02 September 2007] . This raises the issue of 'click happy' users 'opting-in' without first reading what they are accepting.

See also

* Spam in blogs

References

External links

* [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20050218/1558248_F.shtml Man Arrested For Social Networking Spam And Extortion]
* [http://www.yelp.com/topic/-pEx2CgNmIQV5Pb-0f9eyw Spam on Yelp's Network]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • social networking — noun Interaction between individuals for their mutual benefit, esp online • • • Main Entry: ↑social * * * ˌsocial ˈnetworking 8 [social networking] noun uncountable …   Useful english dictionary

  • Social networking service — This article is about the type of service. For the concept of relationships between people, see Social network. For a list of services, see List of social networking websites. A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site… …   Wikipedia

  • Spam Sozialer Netzwerke — ist Spam, die an die Benutzer eines Sozialen Netzwerkdienstes im Internet gerichtet sind wie MySpace, Facebook, Wer kennt wen oder LinkedIn. Benutzer dieser Sozialen Netzwerkdienste können sich Nachrichten schicken, die eingebettete Links… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Spam (electronic) — An email box folder littered with spam messages A typical spam m …   Wikipedia

  • Spam in blogs — For blogs that are built only for spamming, see Spam blog. Spam blacklist redirects here. For Wikipedia s internal spam blocking mechanism, see Wikipedia:Spam blacklist. Spam in blogs (also called simply blog spam or comment spam) is a form of… …   Wikipedia

  • Spam and Open Relay Blocking System — SORBS (Spam and Open Relay Blocking System) is a list of e mail servers suspected of sending or relaying spam (a DNS blacklist). It has been augmented with complementary lists that include various other classes of hosts, allowing for customized… …   Wikipedia

  • Spam — /spam/, n., v., spammed, spamming. 1. Trademark. a canned food product consisting esp. of pork formed into a solid block. n. 2. (l.c.) a disruptive message posted on a computer network. v.t. 3. (l.c.) to send spam to. v.i. 4. (l.c.) to send spam …   Universalium

  • Social network service — A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a… …   Wikipedia

  • Anti-spam techniques — To prevent e mail spam (aka unsolicited bulk email), both end users and administrators of e mail systems use various anti spam techniques. Some of these techniques have been embedded in products, services and software to ease the burden on users… …   Wikipedia

  • Email spam — An email box folder filled with spam messages. Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email (UBE), is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”