Greetings, Is anyone doing any research on the positive aspects of Spam? I'm thinking of something in particular, so let me know if this makes any sense: Most of the commercially oriented spam is directed at men, specifically, men's insecurities about their virility (penis size, stamina, etc.) or fanstasies about their sexuality (huge-breasted nymphomaniac women who just turned 18, etc.). I got to thinking about how this forced sexual bombardment was different from the male-focused advertising and female objectification that we have grown used to, which tends to be more subtle, or less "aggressive." I started thinking about the theories behind aversion therapies, you know, where you immerse someone in something and make them engage in it, eat it, look at it, or whatever, until it makes them sick and they can't stand it anymore. I started wondering if the spam bombardment, particularly in terms of how it is perceived by men who receive it, is having any effect on them or their behavior, world view, or anything. I mean, after you receive your millionth email telling you that your penis is too small, maybe you start to believe it. Then I thought, this is exactly the type of insecurity around their bodies and sexuality that women have been dealing with for centuries. I wonder if maybe, just maybe, there is a slim chance that some of the madness of spam is starting to have an unintended side-effect, or maybe, the people behind most spam are women, and this is actually an aversion therapy conspiracy? Am I making any sense? Am I on to something or just on something? Art
Art: Interesting speculations. Persuasion researchers (Pratkanis in particular, if memory serves) argue that the mere repetition of a persuasion message leads to higher levels of persuasion. But they've also shown that certain features of messages and features of persuasion recipients' psychology have an impact on how they process and react to those messages. So, spam could well be more effective with some, but I suspect that, depending on the message, it could also have the effect of aversion therapy for others. It would seem, then, that a study of specific messages is really necessary. Preferably someone could do a naturalistic one--e.g., request access to some men's email "trash" files to determine their level of exposure to certain kinds of spam and then determine such things as their level of comfort with their size and/or their desire for bimbos. (I suppose you could simply ask subjects to recall the amount of exposure they've had to specific types of spam, but I suspect that many subjects would feel it is socially undesireable to admit getting these messages let alone remember how often one receives them, particularly since more than a few people out there seem to think that such spam is only, or more frequently, visited upon those who surf the web for porn.) --Christian Nelson
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Art McGee -
Christian Nelson