@rich-brooks Spam, and intrusions are in the eye or ear of the beholder. Many times the same people who complain about advertising mail, for example forget that they will be happy when just the right offer comes along. “junk” is a relative term–a single person who never cooks might feel that way about grocery ads, but a Mom with a family and a tight budget welcomes them each week.

In social media, I personally think a lot is in the way the message is crafted and the frequency. The same message Tweeted every 15 minutes to me is overkill. That’s one reason I like the FB timeline allowing a highlighted message, because it’s real estate consumption helps make it more sticky.

At the end of the day, it still takes a minimum of 7 ad impressions (from any sources) to get attention, and in today’s internet age, I believe that is going higher.

The better we can all be about targeting the right market and eliminating no prospects from our audiences, the more effective and less like spam it will seem.

I am a big fan of “opt outs”–if someone feels I spam, or doesn’t like what I tweet or post on FB, I don’t need to speak to them. They can find me later if they change their mind.

I also think those of us who are marketers (and even many small business owners who pay attention) are hyper-sensitive to advertising and social media messaging. I have been reading ads and paying attention to media messaging for my entire career–on purpose, so clutter to me is a relative term, as is spam.

I don’t want your message again if I opt out, but have the option to ignore, delete, or trash it if I don’t.

Now, I have a real pet peeve about phone calls that I have yet to figure out how to stop. We’ve moved and clearly got a number that used to belong to someone else. Unfortunately, this someone else is a deadbeat (and that’s being nice). The collection calls come in over and over again, and despite many repeated attempts, some of the services haven’t gotten the message. If I’ve talked directly to the business, they will stop calling (like the power company) but those that go to a service never seem to stop. But as collectors they have rights that marketers do not. (OK this rant is off topic, but if anyone has insight on how to fix it, message me)

So, the short way is to say I think spam is a personal definition, unless it is addressed directly by a law we must follow.

@rich-brooks Good question, Rich.

For me, any unsolicited interruption is spam.

Therefore the follow is spam:

TV Ads
Pop-ups on websites
Unsolicited emails or regular mail
Unsolicited Tweets via DM or mention
Facebook posts on your page from other pages that are unrelated and overtly ad-based (this comes down to the reason the person is posting it)

Spam is not just about email any more. It is all over social media and is not limited to your “traditional” spammers.

Russell

@deairby Thanks Dea. I like it when people agree with me.

@reneestpeter @russellallert @deairby @annfurnivall @rich-brooks We all have different perspectives on what we find intrusive, and what we classify as spam.

I know that intrusive things pop-ups, (mostly those that obscure the main page of the website I selected), text messages, and phone calls all are my pet peeves, because they inhibit my progress & call my attention away from what I am doing at a time that might be inopportune. In short, they don’t allow me any choice. I also include overt FB posting on my business page as spam, unless I invite it. I do use the delete button,but since it requires me to take an action I shouldn’t have to, and it could be there for awhile before I or someone on my team sees it, it’s a no-no. Pretty much the same in any social media setting, because it is “social” and not an ad channel.

I’ve noticed on LinkedIn there is a subtle line betweeen people in my connections or groups posting their events in discussions vs. people who respond to a discussion and hawk their product or service.It’s a matter of degrees, or even etiquette.

I must say @rich-brooks that this has been a thought provoking discussion

But I view most email and direct mail as acceptable because I can delete or trash on my own schedule as I see fit.

I think I have become conditioned to receive spam in my email.  The thin threats of fines do not serve as a deterrent to prevent it.  However I do get upset when others blatantly post their links on my page or profile.  Really, how would they feel if I walked into their house and spray painted my company name on the walls. 

@davidblide Akismet or Disqus will stop all that.

And as for telephone spam @bnsmav, i have a Skype number that I use for signups and bills and such. Then it is easy to change the number if things get out of control. I have looked myself up and I do not see my real number connect to my online profiles, but instead the spam dump junk drawer Skype number. 

@russellallert

+1

what he said