Re: [Asrg] Adding a spam button to MUAs

Paul Russell <prussell@nd.edu> Wed, 16 December 2009 17:09 UTC

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Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:08:43 -0500
From: Paul Russell <prussell@nd.edu>
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Subject: Re: [Asrg] Adding a spam button to MUAs
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On 12/15/2009 20:50, Steve Atkins wrote:
> On Dec 15, 2009, at 5:48 PM, Rich Kulawiec wrote:
> 
>> I think allowing end users access to such a button is a terrible idea.
>> This is the same population that routinely replies to spam, falls for
>> phishes, and fails to correctly execute rudimentary tasks like unsubscribing
>> from a mailing list or trimming quoted material from replies.  It would
>> be simpler and about as accurate to simply check a random number generator's
>> output for a "spam?/not-spam?" opinion.
> 
> Data from actual reality contradicts your (otherwise plausible) reasoning.
> 

Our "actual reality" includes an AOL feedback loop stream that consists
primarily of:

* spam complaints about personal messages from family members or friends;

* spam complaints about replies to messages initially sent by the user who
  subsequently reported the reply as spam;

* spam complaints about messages posted to COI lists to which the user had
  previously and explicitly subscribed.

None of these messages should have been reported as spam, but they were, and
they outnumber legitimate complaints by a wide margin.

-- 
Paul Russell, Senior Systems Administrator
OIT Messaging Services Team
University of Notre Dame