Instant messaging spam
by Volker Weber
What is your experience with instant messaging spam? I am getting between one and three messages a day trying to spam me. They usually start with just "Hi" or "Who is there". I generally ignore those messages but I am feeling increasingly annoyed.
First conclusion: If you are not on my buddylist and want to talk to me, start with a sentence that explains who you are and what you want.
Second conclusion: If the amount of IM spam starts to increase or I am feeling annoyed beyond a yet to be determined tolerance level, I will set my privacy setting so that only people on my buddy list can talk to me. At the same time the online status indicator on this page will disappear because it will never show me as online.
Third conclusion: If you are not yet on my buddylist, sign up. :-)
Comments
I don't publish my nickname in public. So I almost no IM spam. Only ICQ seems to be a problem. Why did you decide to publish your nickname?
Now that is an easy answer: I have had a lot more benefits by publishing the IM then I have to suffer from abuse.
To me, the glass is half full. :-)
The only time I got IM spam (and it was less spam than harrassment) was when I briefly used Yahoo's IM... in which, by default, you're listed in a public address book. I had lots of guys wanting to have a hot time with me.
I don't think I've ever gotten IM spam on AOL IM or iChat.
My problem is that my IM ID is also my .Mac email address, and I don't want my email address published on a web page to prevent email spam, unless that page uses several masking techniques to hide the addresses. Is your page using any masking techniques?
No, the Wiki does not mask addresses. Not to worry, you are on my list.
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