the buzz log

Spam, the scourge of e-mail, spreading snake-oil promises of no more flabby tummies, instant doctorate degrees, and the power to make sweet love all night. Does anyone really fall for subject come-ons like "super stud de luxe" or "polar bear mauls tourist"?

Did you really have to ask? A study of "800 ordinary computer users" extracted some "shocking" admissions: About 52% click on spam—and several would do it again. Among the stats:

• 17% claim it was just a mistake and they promise never, ever to do that again.
• 13% couldn't explain their compulsion.
• 6% "wanted to see what would happen"—kind of like aiming a microscope over an ant hill.
• Most disheartening of all: 12% willingly and wilfully clicked because they wanted to check out the products.

The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group, which looked straight into the face of gullibility to do this report, reasoned that while it's only a few people who can't resist a pitch like real stallion-desire pills, "these numbers still earn a significant enough return on investment to support a booming spam-driven underground economy." Plus, 8 out of 10 surveyed (spam-enablers or not) didn't realize junk email could get them a "bot" infection that could turn computers into virus-spewing zombies.

There is one upside: If anyone's going to benefit from an underground economy, it'll be the recession-hobbled U.S. While Canadian Pharmacy (which is actually Russian) currently holds the record as "spamiest" spammer with 150 billion messages a day, another study reports that America's a global spam traffic leader, unleashing about 15.6% of junk messages.

That dubious bright spot aside, spam doesn't just cripple Internet traffic: It also leaves a carbon footprint equivalent to 3.1 million cars. So if you're feeling penitent, Tulsa World, MIT, and CNET have some updated tips to spam-proof emails and cell phones. Yet, as bMighty blog points out, the only way to stop spam is abstinence. Next time a stranger offers a smart approach to "be the macho-perfecto!" just say delete.

Filed under: Email, Computers, Spam

In politics, there may be no high road on the Internet superhighway.

The Web has been the way to galvanize the populace. However, that same strength and speed have been co-opted by strategists in order to hijack the political conversation. Celebrities have long had to deal with the stubborn stain of rumors, but innuendo about presidential candidates has a far more corrosive effect.

So it seemed inevitable that Democratic contender Barack Obama would use the Internet again, and dedicate a new site www.fightthesmears.com to address rumors fueled by email, bloggers, and online outlets. Originally, his campaign site allowed visitors to "fact check" a rumor, but a Time magazine report said that feature somehow inflated even crazier variations.

The rumor-fighting site apparently arose when a McClatchy Newspapers reporter got on the nominee's last nerve, after he asked about an alleged tape of his wife using the word "whitey." In the post Swift-Boat world, the Obama camp apparently decided the risks in calling attention to a lie outweighed letting a rumor became malignant.

When the smears site debuted June 11, searches for the alleged Michelle Obama remark—which first registered in mid-May—were already on the decline. The site's launch has done no further harm, even though it addresses that rumor front and center. That particular search remains on the downslide, although the woman who would be First Lady remains under intense online scrutiny. On the upside, queries have risen exponentially for "fight the smears," "obama smears" and "obama smear campaign."

The site faces a long slog.  Many of the same questions and rumors that plagued the candidates at the start of the primary season still persists six months later. As noted in a January politics Buzz Log, the question marks about Obama revolved around religion and patriotism... and that was before the flag-pin flap and Reverend Jeremiah Wright fall-out.

The preponderance of Obama's searches has been neutral, positive or just plain goofy. In the past seven days, benign curiousity has centered on "obama running mate," "obama tax plans" and obama parrot." Yet there are those who continue to seek out his birth certificate and religious connections.

Counterintuitively, online searches for rumors may be a good thing, as they should expose people to as many debunkers (like the Fight the Smears site) as the mongerers.

However the race evolves or devolves, the Internet's role will rank up there alongside the first viable female candidate and biracial nominee in 2008 presidential campaign firsts.

Filed under: Politics, Rumors, Email, Internet, Elections, Presidents