Get Ready for Social Spam

For every good communication channel, there is always someone ready to step forward and abuse it.

Spam is a negative connotation that has long been associated with email marketing practices. No more.

There is a group out there that are looking to take advantage of the popularity of social technologies such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. This is particularly troublesome for colleges and universities looking to leverage these channels in their marketing and recruitment efforts.

Cisco, the international technology networking company, projects a 30% to 40% increase in spam volume in 2010. Social networks represent a particular trouble spot because hackers can pose as ‘friends’ and people tend to trust communication from their supposed social network ‘friends’.

Consider the following email message I received earlier this morning.

From: Nancy Simmons [mailto:nancy.simmons09@gmail.com]

Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 4:20 AM
To: Tim Copeland
Subject: Guest Post for Tim Copeland's Blog on College & University marketing and Enrollment Management

Hi Tim,
I'm Nancy Simmons, interested in writing a guest article on your blog. In order to reach new audience, I (sic) wan  to contribute a guest post for your blog. I will send you a good quality article written by me exclusively for your (sic). You can review the draft and you will become sole owner of the content after it’s published on your blog.

If you have any (sic) a specific process is for submitting article, I would be happy to follow that. Regarding the topic, I’m planning to write a post as per the theme of your blog. I’m sure that your readers would find it interesting. 

Again, if you’re interested I’ll send you a draft for your consideration to publish. All I'm looking for in return, is a by-line indicating myself as the writer of the article which will also include a link pointing back to my site (site name withheld).

Below are samples of recent articles I've written:

(site name withheld)

(site name withheld)

I wish you a very Happy New Year!

Thanks for your time and I look forward to your reply,

Nancy Simmons

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Seems innocent enough, right? Share some content and reciprocal linking. Good for search rankings and adding new content to the old blog ... Pay closer attention to the misspellings. Ignore the site name for the moment. I intentionally removed this information.

This tale has a different beginning.

Let me share with you the first message 'Nancy' sent me in November 2009.

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From: Nancy Simmons [mailto:nancy.simmons83@rediffmail.com]
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 2:44 AM
To: Tim Copeland
Subject: Guest Post for Tim Copeland's Blog on College & University marketing and Enrollment Management

Hi Tim,
I'm interested in writing a guest article on your blog. This will help in getting recognition for my writing and good for my writing profile. I will send you a good quality article written by me exclusively for your blog. If you have any a specific process is for submitting article, I would be happy to follow that. And if you’re interested in accepting an article from me, I can send you an article for you to consider for publication.
All I'm looking for in return, should you choose to publish the article once I've sent it to you, is a by-line indicating myself as the author of the article which will also include a link pointing back to my site (site name withheld)

Again, if you're interested, let me know. Below are samples of recent articles I've written:

(site name withheld)

(site name withheld)

Thanks and I look forward to your reply,
Nancy Simmons
*************************************************************************************************************************

Nancy had a different email address in November. Because the message included a site name that is relevant to higher education, I overlooked the misspellings and responded as follows:

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From: Tim Copeland
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 1:50 PM
To: 'Nancy Simmons'
Subject: RE: Guest Post for Tim Copeland's Blog on College & University marketing and Enrollment Management

Hello Nancy,

Thank you for your message. I’m interested in your proposal and would like additional information.

Enrollmentmarketing.org is written with the college or university professional in mind and focuses on strategy, marketing and technology issues.

Could you elaborate a little bit on where do you see points of intersection of my audience with yours? Tell me a little about your target audience.

Best regards,

Tim

*************************************************************************************************************************

I never received a response from ‘Nancy’ until today.

If you are blogging, tweeting, or maintaining a Facebook Fan Page or profile as part of your enrollment marketing efforts, stay on top of this to keep it out of your communities.