Its beginning to reach a point now I have to wonder, what is the Windows Live Team really doing about Spam on the Windows Live Network? As a heavy user of platform services such as Windows Messenger and Windows Live Spaces I am being bombarded daily by Windows Live Invitations and Comment Spam. Echoing Brandon LeBlanc's recent post about how this is unacceptable, I think it has gone on for too long now. I can’t be going to my inbox everyday to clear out Live Invitation Spam emails, decline Live Messenger network invitations and delete Live Space spam comments.

Windows Live Invitation spam above, comment spam Windows Live Spaces below.

The two above are examples of what I am constantly encountering across my blog. Its a hard decision to make at times to decline and report these persons as spam, because I am not sure if there is a genuine person who might want to communicate with me beyond my blog. I have made friendships through my Live Space with persons I find interesting and fun to chat with. But the current barrage of spam has really made that impossible. I really wish there was more I could do in terms of controlling this problem. My suggestion is, let me block certain regions of the world accessing my space. It sounds harsh, but I believe it would reduce the invitation spam and the comment spam on my Live Space, especially from China. As you can see in the invitation, the domain these invites are coming from is ‘live.cn’ while they are the same domains that generate a lot of comment spam on my Windows Live Space. As I type this, I have received another 3 useless spamming invitations, which leads me to the other topic.

Uh, who are you?

Here is another problem Brandon pointed out – the 'I don't know you, so why are you inviting me to your network' issue. Its really puzzling, if you want to communicate, just use my blog or my Profile Page.’ I don’t know if its the philosophy of other social networks such as My Space, Hi5 Networks or Facebook that individuals new to Windows Live Network are following by having the most friends as possible. Please, don’t bring it here, its what I have been trying to escape from the other services. If you add me to your Network or if I add you, its got to be for a reason, maybe I want interact with you and share interest. I don’t want to visit an empty profile like the one above. If you admire my blog and you just want to say ‘hi’ or ‘thank you’, you can use the Profile Page or leave a comment on one of my blog post.

Previously:

The Issue of Windows Live, Privacy and Spam

Related:

The Amount of Windows Live Invitation Spam is Unacceptable