Yes, says a new study, which reports that more than half of US email users still see spam as a big problem, but fewer now say it's undermining their trust in email, eroding their email use, or making life online unpleasant or annoying".
The findings come in a the Pew Internet & American Life study which suggests, “users are settling in to a level of discomfort with spam that is tolerable to them”.
But although they also say their greatest spam irritant, pornographic email, has declined, 35% of email users say they’ve been subjected to phishing emails - e-junk that tries to lure them into revealing personal financial and other confidential information
Highlights say:
52% of internet users consider spam a big problem
28% of users with a personal email account say they are getting more spam than a year ago, while 22% say they are getting less.
21% of users with a work email account say they are getting more spam than a year ago, while 16% say they are getting less.
53% of email users say spam has made them less trusting of email, compared to 62% a year ago.
22% of email users say that spam has reduced their overall use of email, compared to 29% a year ago.
67% of email users say spam has made being online unpleasant or annoying, compared to 77% a year ago.
63% of email users say they have received porn spam, compared to 71% who said that a year ago.
35% of email users say they have received unsolicited email requesting personal financial information.
The youngest users, 18 – 29, have traditionally been the most tolerant and least bothered by spam. That trend continues, says Pew, going on:
“The 18 – 29 year olds followed the spike in loss of trust in email in February , 2004, and its resettlement to the 2003 levels in January 2005. That is, in 2003, 45% of the youngest users reported a loss of trust in email, compared to 55% of older users. That rose to 56% for younger users and 65% for older users in 2004. It dropped back to 45% for younger users and 55% for older users in 2005. “
But “veteran” users who’ve been online for at least six years are still the most informed about spam, the most likely to consider any form of unsolicited email to be spam, and the most aggressive about avoiding it.
