{"id":383590,"date":"2021-12-20T15:00:20","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T12:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/what-is-spam-and-why-do-we-call-it-that\/"},"modified":"2021-12-20T15:00:20","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T12:00:20","slug":"what-is-spam-and-why-do-we-call-it-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-spam-and-why-do-we-call-it-that\/","title":{"rendered":"#What Is Spam, and Why Do We Call It That?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a326c1149ee1\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a326c1149ee1\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-spam-and-why-do-we-call-it-that\/#Spam_Is_Unsolicited_Bulk_Communications\" >Spam Is Unsolicited Bulk Communications<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-spam-and-why-do-we-call-it-that\/#Where_Did_the_%E2%80%9CSpam%E2%80%9D_Term_Come_From\" >Where Did the \u201cSpam\u201d Term Come From?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-spam-and-why-do-we-call-it-that\/#What_Is_a_Spambot\" >What Is a Spambot?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#What Is Spam, and Why Do We Call It That?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-773662 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/spam_hero_3.jpg?width=398&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 400w, https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/spam_hero_3.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/spam_hero_3.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Photo of a woman fighting off spam letters with a shield\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/businesswoman-protected-shield-by-letters-335908826\" data-credittext=\"alphaspirit.it\/Shutterstock.com\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/businesswoman-protected-shield-by-letters-335908826\">alphaspirit.it\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Thanks to the internet, spam isn\u2019t just a type of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Spam_(food)\">canned meat product<\/a>. We all deal with spam at some point or another\u2014but what is it, exactly, and why do we call it that? We explore the history and rationale behind the term.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Spam_Is_Unsolicited_Bulk_Communications\"><\/span>Spam Is Unsolicited Bulk Communications<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you open your email inbox and see dozens (if not hundreds) of emails you didn\u2019t ask for, you\u2019re looking at spam. In tech, \u201cspam\u201d is a term for unwanted, unsolicited mass communications. While the term is most commonly associated with email, it can also be used to refer to spam comments on blogs and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a>, physical junk mail, robocalls, and more.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever the communications medium, spam is almost <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inman.com\/2004\/02\/05\/survey-says-we-hate-spam\/\">universally despised<\/a>, and it has been since <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/tech\/services-and-software\/survey-says-we-hate-spam\/\">at least 1996,<\/a> according to industry surveys.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_Did_the_%E2%80%9CSpam%E2%80%9D_Term_Come_From\"><\/span>Where Did the \u201cSpam\u201d Term Come From?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s commonly believed that the \u201cspam\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> term originated as a reference to a 1970 <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_bW4vEo1F4E\">Monty Python TV comedy sketch<\/a>. In the sketch, a woman in a restaurant attempts to order from a menu full of items made with Spam luncheon meat (the food).<\/p>\n<p>Part of the joke is that the menu items repetitively name spam as an ingredient, such as \u201cSpam Spam Spam Spam sausage eggs and Spam.\u201d Soon, a group of vikings begins singing \u201cSpam, spam, spam, spam\u201d repeatedly, drowning out conversation as the woman gets increasingly annoyed.<\/p>\n<lite-youtube videoid=\"_bW4vEo1F4E\" style=\"background-image: url('https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/_bW4vEo1F4E\/hqdefault.jpg');\">\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"lty-playbtn\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"lyt-visually-hidden\">Play Video<\/span><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n<p>Some time in the late 1980s or early 1990s, people began to use the term \u201cspam\u201d to describe disruptive, repetitive messages on BBSes, MUDs, and in early online chat rooms. As the internet came to American households in the early 1990s, \u201cspam\u201d became widely known as the name for unsolicited <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/1999\/04\/the-spam-that-started-it-all\/\">internet posts<\/a> and junk emails sent out to thousands of people at once.<\/p>\n<p>Internet \u201cspam\u201d became such a huge cultural concept that, in 1998, the owner of the Spam trademark, Hormel, published a web page called \u201cSpam and the Internet\u201d that spelled out the company\u2019s position on the relationship between SPAM and what they called \u201cunsolicited commercial email (UCE).\u201d It commented on the origins of the term:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Use of the term \u201cSPAM\u201d was adopted as a result of the Monty Python skit in which a group of Vikings sang a chorus of \u201cSPAM, SPAM, SPAM . . . \u201d in an increasing crescendo, drowning out other conversation. Hence, the analogy <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lied because UCE was drowning out normal discourse on the Internet.<\/p>\n<p>We do not object to use of this slang term to describe UCE, although we do object to the use of our product image in association with that term. Also, if the term is to be used, it should be used in all lower-case letters to distinguish it from our trademark SPAM, which should be used with all uppercase letters.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Interestingly, unsolicited emails predate the origin of the \u201cspam\u201d term. History shows that the earliest known mass commercial emailing <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.templetons.com\/brad\/spamreact.html#msg\">occurred in 1978<\/a>, sent by Gary Thuerk to advertise DEC\u2019s new <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/VAX\">VAX computer systems<\/a>. Due to a large negative response, Thuerk apologized, and reportedly, it took years before anyone saw a mass commercial email again.<\/p>\n<p>You can reach even farther back if you want an example of some of the earliest \u201conline\u201d spam. In 1867, someone in London sent unsolicited commercial telegraph messages to people <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerhistory.org\/revolution\/the-web\/20\/392\/2172\">via telegram<\/a>, causing no shortage of annoyance. So as long as there have been electronic communications mediums, spam hasn\u2019t been too far behind.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_a_Spambot\"><\/span>What Is a Spambot?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-773869\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/spam_guy.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Photo illustration of a man reacting to spam coming from his monitor.\" width=\"650\" height=\"394\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/young-stressed-handsome-businessman-working-desk-1071449234\">Master1305\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Before we wrap up our discussion of spam, it\u2019s worth noting that the source of a large amount of internet spam comes from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Spambot\">spambots<\/a>, which are programs that automatically send messages or post comments. These programs automatically fill out forms and pose as humans to spread their messages as far as possible.<\/p>\n<p>To defend against spambots, a group of computer scientists invented <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/CAPTCHA\">CAPTCHA<\/a>, a type of online test designed to screen out bots from posting online. It\u2019s not perfect, but they can help screen out spam.<\/p>\n<p>Also, most cell phone users suffer from an onslaught of robocalls these days, a type of automated telephone spam. Luckily, there are some ways to help reduce the impact of robocalls, but the spam calls still represent a serious issue that <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/09\/18\/how-fcc-tries-to-fight-robocalls.html\">government agencies are trying to combat<\/a>. It\u2019s a never-ending battle: Wherever communications technology goes in the future, spam will likely follow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/773383\/what-is-spam-and-why-do-we-call-it-that\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#What Is Spam, and Why Do We Call It That?&#8221; alphaspirit.it\/Shutterstock.com Thanks to the internet, spam isn\u2019t just a type of canned meat product. We all deal with spam at some point or another\u2014but what is it, exactly, and why do we call it that? We explore the history and rationale behind the term. Spam&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":383591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/spam_hero_3.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-383590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}