If you use e-mail at all, chances are you receive spam messages from time to time, probably more often than you realize. Most e-mail providers filter spam and send it to a “junk mail” folder where it is never seen or accessed. Many e-mail boxes receive hundreds of spam messages each day. Spamming is the process of sending bulk electronic messages to multiple e-mail addresses in hopes that a small percentage of recipients will read the message.

Spam is not limited to e-mail, although that is what it is most often associated with, but rather is used through various electronic mediums. Spam has not always been a part of the Internet, but it’s interesting to take a look at spam’s beginnings.

The popular belief is that this junk e-mail was called “spam” because of a Monty Python sketch produced in 1970, long before electronic spam was in existence. The sketch portrayed a cafe where everything on the menu was some variation of Spam, the canned meat. In the background, patrons sing a loud song about Spam, drowning out the restaurant staff’s attempt to speak to customers, thus “Spamming” the conversation. Unsolicited, junk e-mail became known as spam because it made it difficult to filter through and retrieve the messages that were solicited and welcomed by the recipient.

In 1998, the dictionary added the following definition to the word spam: “Irrelevant or inappropriate messages sent on the Internet to a large number of newsgroups or users.” Before spam was being sent to e-mail boxes however, it was being used in other ways on the Internet. The first known unsolicited electronic message sent for commercial purposes was in 1978. Throughout the 1980’s, before e-mail was so popular and widespread, spammers annoyed users of message boards and chat rooms by flooding the conversations with commercial messages. The flooding of message boards and chat rooms was called “flooding” or “trashing” before it became known as “spamming.”

Unsolicited electronic messages are not unique to the Internet. In the 19th century, unsolicited junk telegrams were sent regularly. Today, spam can be in the form of unsolicited instant messages, junk text messages sent to multiple wireless phones, or even pre-recorded messages left on voice mail systems.

When unsolicited junk e-mail became known as spam, the maker of the canned meat, Hormel, brought legal action to prevent these unwanted messages being called Spam. Eventually, Hormel came around, insisting only that when publishers are referring to the canned meat as opposed to the junk mail, they use all capital letters.

Today, there are over 12.4 million spam e-mails sent every day. It is estimated that over 40% of all the e-mail sent over the Internet is spam. The average person receives 2200 spam messages every year. Although spam is a tremendous waste of space and time, it continues to be used because it works. Over 8% of Internet users have bought a product directly because of a spam message. Avoiding spam is nearly impossible, but e-mail providers today are doing an increasingly better job of keeping it separate from legitimate electronic messages.

If you have an e-mail address, there’s a good chance that you are already familiar with spam. As of 2006, over 40% of the e-mail sent on the Internet was unsolicited, junk e-mail intended for commercial purposes, better known as spam. The average person receives over 100 spam e-mail messages every day. E-mail service providers have done a good job at figuring out how to filter spam out of inboxes and send it to a junk mail folder, but even with incoming messages being screened and filtered, spam continues to be a nuisance to most people.

Although it may be impossible to avoid spam entirely, there are several things that e-mail users can do to reduce incoming spam, including:

Control your E-mail address

The more frequently an internet user enters or posts an e-mail address online, the greater the chance of spammers adding that e-mail address to their list. Avoid posting an e-mail address on a message board. Many people create a disposable e-mail address, one that they use when they need to enter an address to sign up for something online. Their personal e-mail address, or the main address that they prefer to use, is given only to people and businesses that are known and invited to use the address.

Watch out for check boxes

As our world becomes more electronic, we are often asked to register in order to use certain websites that we need access to. Quite often, the registration process includes questions regarding the registrant’s desire to receiving related offers via e-mail. In most cases, these check boxes are already checked for you, and you need to un-check the boxes to avoid being barraged with junk e-mail. Much of the spam that is received in e-mail boxes is invited because of these check boxes.

Disguise your E-mail address

There are times when users have to post their e-mail address in a place that could be seen by other web users. One way to avoid attracting spammers is to disguise the posted address. For example, instead of posting your actual e-mail address of joeblow@hotmail.com, you would post “joeblow AT hotmail DOT com.” Programs that scan web pages for e-mail addresses will not detect this disguised address. It’s also a good idea to search online for your e-mail address. Typing your actual e-mail address into Google will tell you whether or not it can be found in public places online.

Read Privacy Policies

Many of the websites that Internet users register for have terms and conditions that most people never read. Within these terms and conditions, there is a privacy policy that should state ways that your information will be kept confidential. If you are not satisfied with the measures being taken to protect your information, you should not register at the site.

There are several other tricks and tips to avoid spam e-mail, but taking the above steps will be a good start. If spam is a problem for you, consider starting over with a new e-mail address and practicing the above habits.