---

Guest post by: Robin Elliott Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

Have you found that when you’re uptight about something, tired, hungry and stressed, that you tend, ever so slightly, to overreact sometimes? I received a nasty e mail the other day accusing me of spamming this person (who had subscribed / opted in to my ezine, by the way). Obviously, he was having a bad day and had lost perspective on spam. I sent him a note which I thought I’d share with you, just so we can maintain perspective in this busy day and age.

First of all, I receive over 360 spam e mails a day. That’s the price one pays for a strong Internet presence, I guess. I don’t use a spam filter as it has cost me money in the past by blocking important e mails. (Spam filters have no brains, you see; they’re simply robots.) Here’s the thing – it takes me a total of 12 minutes to delete the spam, but I save hours every day using the Internet and e mail. TWELVE MINUTES. Let’s see that in perspective. How long do you wait for your food in a restaurant? How much time do you spend commuting? I don’t spend hours attacking the spammers - I simply hit “Delete” and move on.

Also, there are different types of spam – helpful, uplifting information and valuable offers on the one hand, and sleazy porn and scammers on the other. Either way, it takes two seconds to delete. So, when one looks at the real time usage compared to the benefits, why do people react so violently to what they perceive as spam? Why the threats and why take so much MORE time to write to the “spammer”, instead of taking two seconds to delete the e mail? Is there perhaps something else going on here?

There’s the rub! The REAL reason, I suspect, why people get so angry at certain “spam” e mails, is that their buttons are being pushed. Something in that e mail reminds them about something about themselves that they’re not happy about. They look in the mirror, don’t like what they see, and smash the mirror. “You can break the scales, but you’ll still be fat.” They shoot the messenger when the message is a little too close to the truth. Instead of standing back and asking themselves, “Why am I reacting so violently? Is there a message here for me? What can I learn from this?” they attack. Anger often comes from fear. Perhaps we should start reading some of those really irritating e-mails.

There’s a radio station here that spouts the worst kind of socialism, anti-establishment collectivism and everything that is directly opposed to my philosophy. And I LOVE listening to it. I learn so much. It gives me perspective, corrects some of my assumptions and strengthens others. There are some very smart people on that show – much smarter than me! Perhaps we should be less threatened and more open minded about spam and look at the upside of this amazing, time-saving thing called e-mail.

Related Articles

  Controlling the Email Monster
  Strangling the Internet: Why Spam Matters and What It Costs
  When Search Engines Get Fooled
  Email Marketing Spammer: How Not to Appear Like One
  Hosting Service Providers in India: Ways to Solve Outgoing Spam Problem
  Spambuster vows to help wipe out spam plague
  Is Email Marketing Still Effective?
  The danger of email marketing
  Spam Continues to Try To Pollute The Universe
  Do you like running your virus scanner?
  Has Anyone Ever Called you a Junk-Mail Queen (or King)?
  Spam is a Threat Block It
  10 Tips on Email Marketing
  Are Yahoo Hotmail and AOL Blocking Your Marketing Message
  Beware Of Spam Withdrawals
  Love Me, Love My Spam
  Working with CAN-SPAM and the Canadian Privacy Act
  How to Prevent Accusations of Spam
  13 Essential Wordpress Plug-ins for Every Wordpress Installation
  Why Your Site Isn't Showing Up In Search Engines

Related Forum Posts

Re: Adobe Flex Developer Team need sales agents in US
Ideas on Using Twitter for Business
Re: Q1 Triple Crown Winners, Q2 Contest Starts Now!
Re: A lot of electronics spam today!
Ideas

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Descriptive Stories Sell on More than One Level

PR Evaluation – A Practical Approach

Hire the Best Staff - Part Two 'Selection'

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.