Spam levels rise but users are savvier

U.S. internet users are receiving more spam in their inboxes than ever before, but they’re not nearly as concerned as they were a few years ago, finds a new report.

by Helen Leggatt

Recent research by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that the volume of spam in personal email accounts has increased by over 10 percent in the last three years. Despite the rise, users appear to be more tolerant and spam-savvy.

Thirty-seven percent of the U.S. email users said, they received more spam in their personal email inboxes than a year ago, but half say they hadn’t noticed a change in the volume of spam they received. Users are savvier and are using filters and common sense to filter out the spam with 71 percent using a filter provided by their email providers or employers, up 6 percent from 2005.

Most interestingly, perhaps, is that users nowadays aren’t perceiving spam as such a big problem as they did a few years ago. Pew’s recent survey found that 28 percent didn’t see spam as a problem at all, compared with 16 percent in 2003 and that over half, 51 percent, found it annoying but not a big problem.

All this may have something to do with the drop in pornographic spam. In a 2003 survey, 71 percent said, they received pornographic spam whereas the most recent findings show this has dropped to 52 percent.