Inbox Spam Drives Up The Value Of Social Networks

Image via WikipediaPeter forwarded me this interesting post on Searching For The Value in Facebook that explores the reasons behind a AOL style closed garden working in an age of openness and transparency.

While this is a larger topic, one of the things it did get me thinking about was why I sometimes use social networks like Facebook and Linkedin to send messages to people. I mean, after all, I have their email addresses for the most post and it's just as easy to drop them a line the old fashioned way isn't it?

And yet, if I really want to get in touch with someone in particular who I don't communicate with often, I tend to do it through those other communication vehicles. Why? The answer is simple. Spam.

Spam has become such a problem in my personal email inbox that I tend to lose important messages either amongst all the SPAM or those messages accidentally get lobbed into my SPAM filter. My assumption is that others have the same issue. So if i really want to get in touch with someone and MAKE SURE that they actually get and read my message, I will sometimes send it through a social networking service.

I started to ask around to my friends, and as it turns out, at least with my compatriots, they all tend to do the same thing. What does this mean for the future of CRM based communications? Hum...not sure yet. But definitely working on it.