Altyrian View

I recently Googled “spam defininition” and learned something amazing - there are tons of different definitions for spam but none that seem to cover it well. The ones I clicked into talk about “unwanted e-mail” and, true, this was the original application of the word. But ”spam” has expanded into other uses, so the definition should expand as well. To rectify this situation, I now offer what I feel is the true and meaningful definition of spam.

Spam: Any intrusive, annoying and unwanted communication delivered without permission to a large audience.

Consider this - you’re engrossed in your favorite TV show when your TV is taken over by low-quality video and a screeching voice telling you to “apply directly to your forehead!” Think that’s spam? I sure do. Ads for new and used car dealerships (on both TV and radio), pop-ups on Web sites and all other intrusive, annoying and unwanted messages sure seem like spam to me. Likewise, I recently read a post on AdJab and clicked to read the comment someone had posted - but it wasn’t a comment at all. Instead it was a sales pitch for cell phones. Spam? Absolutely.

In this month’s Media magazine, Faris Yakob has a column titled ”Are All Ads Spam?”. In it, he makes a similar argument for the broad definition of spam. He also offers advice on ways to make your message NOT spam. It’s a good article (hey, it agrees with my point here!) and I recommend it. I also recommend that we look at all ads, releases and other communications and ask “is this intrusive, annoying and unwanted?” If it is, I say we call it spam and toss it out.