According to a recent research report released by Pew Internet & the American, 71% of e-mail users utilize filters to deal with unwanted messages before they get into their inboxes. An additional 41% use their own filters to purge their inboxes, while another 44% have attempted to protect their e-mail addresses online.
Though that news is good, it seems that spam is still a growing problem and that e-mail users might actually be growing apathetic to it.
In a survey conducted by Pew in March of 2007, 37% of the 2,200 respondents said that they are getting more spam in their personal e-mail account, while 10% said that they are getting less spam. Another 51% say that they have not noticed a change in the amount of spam they have received in their personal e-mail accounts.
For work e-mail accounts, 29% said that they are receiving more spam in these accounts, while 8% are getting less, and 55% have not noticed a change.
The report also indicated that 55% of e-mail users say that they have lost their trust in e-mail because of the prevalence of spam.
E-mail users seem to see spam as less of an annoyance now than they did four years ago. Only 7% of e-mail users said spam was a big problem in 2007, which is a big drop from the 25% of users saying the same thing in June of 2003.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents said that spam was no problem at all, compared to just 16% back in 2003.
"After so many years of dealing with spam, most people realize that unfortunately it's a fact of life, they can prepare for it, but most users know it's something they can't change," said Susannah Fox, who is the associate director at Pew Internet & American Life Project.
She added, "Most people say they recognize spam when they see it and aren't likely to click on something by mistake."
Spam folders are seldom checked by e-mail users. The study revealed that 51% check their spam folders once in a while, while 45% say they almost never check the folder, or never check them.
E-mail users have also become more wary of clicking on links in spam messages. Twenty-three percent have clicked on a link in a spam e-mail in 2007, which is down from 33% in 2003. Four percent say they have ordered a product or service through unsolicited messages.
"We continue to have e-mail users who click on the links in the spam message, which encourages spammers," said Fox.
The report also revealed that younger users are more likely to find spam annoying, while educated Web users will find spam messages more of an annoyance than those who have less education. Also, users who use both work and home e-mail accounts are more irritated by spam.
According to MessageLabs, 76.1% of e-mails in April were spam. Also, viruses were discovered in one out of every 145.5 e-mails in April. Microsoft Word and even PowerPoint were used as vessels for attacks.
Though it would be ideal to have a world without spam and/or viruses, many people would find themselves without a job in that perfect world. It’s a curious relationship that the anti-spam/virus industry would seem to have with spammers and online attackers, but the typical e-mail user would be nothing short of ecstatic to just see it all disappear.
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