I would absolutely hate to be a celebrity. Can you just imagine the attention, constant harassment by fans, paparazzi, having to put up with photos pf your naked body all over the tabloids just because you decided to ‘let-go’ for the summer. No thanks!. But probably the worst part of the celebrity gig must be all the fan mail – mountains and mountains of it every day from fans who think you and them share some special bond, some that are total whack-jobs and a fair few, I bet, that want to interest you in a business deal.
These last few weeks of the EDC blogging process has been somewhat of a trench war against an unending barrage of spam, junk mail and totally unwanted commentary. Now, embarking on the clean up before presentation for assessment I have probably received at least three or four spam comments each day trying to sell me everything from Spanish condos, to french language lessons and even muscle gain formula (Has this bot been stalking my Facebook page?)
As educators we often don’t even begin to think about the daily grind that most students have to bear with in terms of the glut of internet marketing, five second intros, spam, junk email and its ilk. It hard enough to concentrate as it is but adding another layer of irritating marketing to the picture really chips away at the nerves after a while. Many folks just filter it out, but, when you really think about it this stuff is contributing to an animosity about the web that doesn’t particularly help in the field we are engaged in. Learners, particularly younger ones, can be disengaged at the best of times, so do we really need to think about how much they are exposed to?
Just like a break in cigarette marketing help to bring down rates of younger smokers could such a ban assist in creating more engaged learners, even if only by one or two percent?
The onslaught continues, but with my trusty spam reporting button in hand I may yet prevail against the tide of nonsensical spammage!