AOL Mail Problem

Matthew Black black at csulb.edu
Fri Jul 28 19:21:52 UTC 2006


On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 09:28:24 -0700
  chuck goolsbee <chucklist at forest.net> wrote:
[original message edited for brevity--m.black]

> The fatal flaw in AOL's feedback system is that it is user-generated, and 
>users will classify virtually anything as "spam". It is actually quite 
>entertaining to skim the scomp feed... ecommerce confirmation/shipping 
>notifications, mailing lists they subbed themselves to, personal 
>correspondence(!), etc. I have heard that the AOL mail UI puts the "report 
>as spam" button right next to the "delete" button, which perhaps accounts 
>for the error rate which (at least in our case) exceeds 96%.


I get the AOL feedback for my university and am also quite
amused what their customers consider as spam:

    - Notification of acceptance of admission to the university
    - Notification of financial aid award
    - Personal replies from campus faculty to students
    - Confirmation of employment application submission

Someone told me that it's probably a careless error when users
make these mistakes. However, my friend has AOL and when I looked
at his client, the Submit Spam menu choice was nowhere near Delete.

I have to agree with a poster who claimed e-mail is as dead as
citizen's band radio. I better plan for alternative employment.

matthew black
california state university, long beach



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