Cyber-spamming and That Damned Human Curiosity
Just another day on the Internet and just another day of reading ridiculous spam messages in my mailbox, Facebook wall, and anywhere else that I can come to collect personalized communications. "OMG, see who is stalking you on Facebook!" seems to be the latest fad to go around. Those who cannot resist the temptation of finding out click on the link and without them knowing, the same message is transmitted to their friends, who will likely to repeat the cycle.
Obviously, the temptation does not get you the answer you want. No names of "stalkers" are released and the link-clicking curiosity only leads to belated apologies to a bunch of mildly amused (and later on, irritated) friends. Even so, what is for sure is that, next time when there is another link with equally tempting message inscribed, the chances are, people will click on it again, and again, and again. Netizens just keep believing that at least of those sensationalizing messages they receive everyday has to be genuine, even after being proven incorrect dozens of times in a row.
Such is the way of human curiosity. The unrestrained yearning for new "knowledge," no matter how trivial, drives the individual toward something completely unknown and unexplored. The benefit of mental (and occasionally, physical) stimulation of "trying something new" and the desire of getting that benefit NOW prevent the individuals from carefully considering the potential costs associated. People generally assume that the cost is low, taking up the attitude that "lets try it now, and deal with the problems later."
At least here on Facebook, the assumption is pretty correct. The cost, in the case of the link on the wall, is minimized to just a matter of a few light apologies. No one will really care if a friend of theirs accidentally forward a spam message. The low cost associated, thus, gives people all the more incentive to keep clicking, hoping that their curiosity will pay off eventually with some sort of "jackpot" behind one of those ubiquitous spam links.
The winner of the incessant clicking here, ultimately, has to be the spam generator. By allowing automatic message forwarding to take place from friends to friends of friends and beyond, one spam can be quickly disseminated to millions of users in matters of hours. And precisely because "friends" are involved, the probability of messages being passed on is much higher than having the same message sent by email, where long-established fear of PC viruses prevent people from opening emails from friends if the subject of the mail is in anyway abnormal or suspicious.
Of course, it is not true that only spam generators can benefit from netizens' curiosity. Legitimate businesses, with a bit of outrageousness in their marketing campaigns, can easily attract the eyeballs of the public. The fairly recent "Whooper Sacrifice" Facebook App by Burger King was a perfect example. The premise of issuing one "free Whooper" coupon for every ten Facebook friend deleted quickly became major topic of conversation across the SNS world and the Blogsphere.
At once ridiculous and cynically poking fun at the unrealistic nature of "friendships" in cyberspace, Burger King still ironically managed to achieve a major success in PR done only on the cyberspace. Once again, thanks to the curiosity of the netizens, combined with their desires to share their curiosities with their cyber-friends, a major corporation managed to market itself with literally zero financial cost (I seriously doubt anyone out there actually deleted ten friends for a burger). The brilliance of the marketing personnel at the company is worthy of respect...
For human curiosity to act up, the message really just have to be "out there." It does not have to sound realistic or connected to the everyday. As long as it has the tiniest remotest chance of being real, some people will unhesitatingly fall for it. Stupid, maybe, but entertained, definitely yes. It is likely that people will keep clicking not because they really want something at the end, but simply because they enjoy the very action of falling for something and then apologizing to their friends. Heck, it might just be a good way to start a conversation with some "friends" they barely talk to...
Obviously, the temptation does not get you the answer you want. No names of "stalkers" are released and the link-clicking curiosity only leads to belated apologies to a bunch of mildly amused (and later on, irritated) friends. Even so, what is for sure is that, next time when there is another link with equally tempting message inscribed, the chances are, people will click on it again, and again, and again. Netizens just keep believing that at least of those sensationalizing messages they receive everyday has to be genuine, even after being proven incorrect dozens of times in a row.
Such is the way of human curiosity. The unrestrained yearning for new "knowledge," no matter how trivial, drives the individual toward something completely unknown and unexplored. The benefit of mental (and occasionally, physical) stimulation of "trying something new" and the desire of getting that benefit NOW prevent the individuals from carefully considering the potential costs associated. People generally assume that the cost is low, taking up the attitude that "lets try it now, and deal with the problems later."
At least here on Facebook, the assumption is pretty correct. The cost, in the case of the link on the wall, is minimized to just a matter of a few light apologies. No one will really care if a friend of theirs accidentally forward a spam message. The low cost associated, thus, gives people all the more incentive to keep clicking, hoping that their curiosity will pay off eventually with some sort of "jackpot" behind one of those ubiquitous spam links.
The winner of the incessant clicking here, ultimately, has to be the spam generator. By allowing automatic message forwarding to take place from friends to friends of friends and beyond, one spam can be quickly disseminated to millions of users in matters of hours. And precisely because "friends" are involved, the probability of messages being passed on is much higher than having the same message sent by email, where long-established fear of PC viruses prevent people from opening emails from friends if the subject of the mail is in anyway abnormal or suspicious.
Of course, it is not true that only spam generators can benefit from netizens' curiosity. Legitimate businesses, with a bit of outrageousness in their marketing campaigns, can easily attract the eyeballs of the public. The fairly recent "Whooper Sacrifice" Facebook App by Burger King was a perfect example. The premise of issuing one "free Whooper" coupon for every ten Facebook friend deleted quickly became major topic of conversation across the SNS world and the Blogsphere.
At once ridiculous and cynically poking fun at the unrealistic nature of "friendships" in cyberspace, Burger King still ironically managed to achieve a major success in PR done only on the cyberspace. Once again, thanks to the curiosity of the netizens, combined with their desires to share their curiosities with their cyber-friends, a major corporation managed to market itself with literally zero financial cost (I seriously doubt anyone out there actually deleted ten friends for a burger). The brilliance of the marketing personnel at the company is worthy of respect...
For human curiosity to act up, the message really just have to be "out there." It does not have to sound realistic or connected to the everyday. As long as it has the tiniest remotest chance of being real, some people will unhesitatingly fall for it. Stupid, maybe, but entertained, definitely yes. It is likely that people will keep clicking not because they really want something at the end, but simply because they enjoy the very action of falling for something and then apologizing to their friends. Heck, it might just be a good way to start a conversation with some "friends" they barely talk to...
Comments
Post a Comment