Spam as a Service

There are things I do not understand. Perhaps because things are made to look attractive and appear to be something else, but Spam is Spam, however you look at it. A few days ago, what is being presented as the first 2.0 buzz-building initiative for companies was unveiled. Its aim is to energise organisations’ internal and external social networks. Well, it sounds good, but how is that done? Easily: by generating Internet junk in the form of Likes and other things—all junk in the form of unwanted content. There are several business promotion initiatives through social networks. What is curious and striking is that the founder of that company said just a few months ago:

• The promotional system used by XXXXXX is sheer prostitution... They exploit the power of the blogosphere through gifted articles, about which nothing negative can be said.
• Using the viral power of the Web in exchange for a mess of pottage is unethical.
• Prostituting oneself may be pleasant, but it is contemptible
• The Internet is an unpredictable territory and must act as an active watchdog, encouraging any dynamic that eliminates this fact; for example, prompting the consumption of certain products under the excuse of collective judgement distorts the very essence of the Web.

I do not have the pleasure of knowing him, but I would certainly like to tell him that the pottage he now eats every day does indeed come precisely from Spam, from the company of which he is now Managing Director. The blogosphere is wise and does not lack a memory, and from time to time it calls us to account for our comments. Social Media Marketing is certainly not this.