Spam via social networks rises sharply

by Sara Kimberley, Brand Republic, 02 February 2010, 4:35pm

LONDON - The number of users who have been spammed via social network sites has risen by 70% in the past year, according to a new survey.

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Nearly 57% of respondents reported they have been spammed via social networking sites.

Users being sent malware via social networks have risen by 69.8% in the past year to 36%.

Facebook is the social network that respondents believes poses the biggest security threat, the report published by IT security firm Sophos shows.

While Facebook is the largest social networking site in the world with 350 million users, 60% of internet users surveyed believe the site posted the biggest security risk.

Nearly 20% believed the biggest threat was posed by MySpace, followed by 17% who thought it was Twitter. Only 4% thought LinkedIn posed the biggest threat,

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, said: "There is no doubt that simple changes could make Facebook users safer."

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Emma Thwaites, Client Services Dir, Alchemetrics - 06 February 2010

When it comes to social media outreach, it's clear that many brands have taken one look at the vast potential audience out there and dived in head first without stopping to develop a considered strategy. There's no doubt that platforms such as Twitter and Facebook represent a big opportunity for consumer engagement, but brands need to be set on exactly what they're trying to achieve with social media marketing before they run the risk of alienating these new audiences. The appeal of social networks is that they are a community of like minded people, and to date they have remained largely free of marketing messaging. Unobtrusive and relevant comms will always find an audience, but if brands blindly stumble their way through these communities with little or no care as to who they're targeting, they will quickly show themselves to be out of step.