Using Spam for Trend Spotting

by Anita Campbell

We all despise that tsunami of scheming, silly, self-seeking and sometimes-salacious messages that saturate our email box.  But hold on a minute. Believe it or not, spam can serve as an interesting source for identifying society’s trends and future directions.

Come again?  Yes. By tracking your spam, you can identify certain trends that are weaving their way through today’s society by way of e-mail.  Drugs, or pharmaceuticals, if you want to give them some legitimacy.  Financial investments and schemes - sorry these is no better word for some of these.

Although there are legitimate ways to purchase pharmaceuticals via the Internet, many of the offers we all receive are, shall we say, “less than genuine.” First, there was Viagra and its various iterations. Close behind were the painkillers Vicodin and OxyContin.  A couple of years ago the “herbals” began appearing in my inbox.  First ephedra,  then hoodia.  The most weight you’ll probably lose buying hoodia is in your wallet.

Some spammers don’t want to waste time and effort with an actual product when they can get your cash directly.  Of course, many people have done quite well as online traders.  Some have even gone so far as to quit their “day jobs” and lived to tell about it.

Stock and investment spams are alive and well and seemingly multiplying all the time.  Who would feel sorry for someone who lost money buying a stock that was promoted by way of an unsolicited e-mail?  And then there are those “attractive” mortgage offers, but only if you act immediately. Operators standing by to take your call.

Who can turn down the heart-wrenching plea from those frustrated Nigerians? Everyone, I hope.   They have millions of dollars they need to spirit out of their war-torn country, and out of hundreds of millions of Americans, they picked me to help them.  Whatan honor.

What’s new out there now?  Well, have you noticed the recent surge in the amount of Chinese spam?  The growth in the Chinese Internet is outpacing our domestic usage.  The Institute for the Future has now devoted a blog to it - Virtual China.  An another recent phenomenon is the explosion of fake discounts, coupons, surveys and special offers.  “Confirmation Code - Cheesecake Factory.”  A fine chain of restaurants, to be sure.  But, you don’t really believe that the restaurant is behind those e-mails, do you?

As annoying as spam certainly is, there may be nuggets worth mining in all those e-mails.  Spam as a chronicle of current trends, vices and pop culture?  Stranger things have already happened in the infancy of the 21st Century.

Article printed from Small Business Trends: http//www.smallbiztrends.com
URL to article:  using-spam-for-trend-spotting.

Anita Campbell is editor of Small Business Trends (smallbiztrends.com), an award-winning web site where she follows trends affecting the small business market. She is also the host of the Small Business Trends Radio (smbtrendwire.com) show.
E-mail: anita@anitacampbell.com