Every day, without fail, I get an automated email from someone who wants me to update my contact information in their system (which is really astounding since I'm not that popular). There must be a dozen different services out there (the biggest is probably Plaxo) that hook into your addressbook and "automatically" update my contact information.
In case you're mystified by how that works, let me tell you: they SPAM me--as often as once every 90 days for each person who has me as a contact. It's driving me bonkers. Some of these services are even bold enough to force ME to register so that YOU can keep track of me.
To me, these automated contact services are the new ring tones of 2005--they may be entertaining and convenient for you but they're incredibly annoying for everyone else (and this is worse because you're annoying your friends instead of just the strangers around you).
If my friends are listening, i love you all. If I move, I'll tell you. I promise. Next time your service spams me with an email to update my contact info, I'm going to put in the wrong address so they never reach me again. Actually, I'm going to try to go find the email address of the CEO of Plaxo...
So I hope you have my phone number in your cell phone. And, I'd appreciate a distinctive ring tone.
joel
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Thanks for the response, Stacy. Your pushback about the "automation" is fair. I installed Plaxo today to verify and everything you said appears to be true.
My primary concern still stands: this tool is an "enabler" of poor behavior. When Yahoo encounters spammers using their email servers, they work to disable them (at least I assume they do--I know Hotmail does). On the other hand, services like these enable and encourage spam from my friends. As a business, I could understand that your inital plan requires this sort of "viral" marketing but as a customer, it leaves a bad impression of these companies whenever I'm on the wrong end of an impersonal "please update" email.
In the end, it's true that blame falls primarily on the ego-centric users who choose to use these systems to spam me (assuming that they know what they are doing--some services are less forthright than Plaxo). Would it kill them to send me a personal email to stay in touch and reconnect, instead of just making sure that my information is updated in their Rolodex so I'm reachable when they need a favor??
joel
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