Potentially good news for email users - spammers are now concentrating on a range of other communication channels, too. The bad news is that spammers are using other forms of interaction - such as email - to increase spam on social networks.

Research from messaging specialist Cloudmark and researcher Harris Interactive suggests spam is now clogging social networks and creating a potential barrier to further growth.

More than four in five social networking site users (83 per cent) has received spam “friend” invitations, messages or postings on their account during the past twelve months.

The problem is apparently severe enough for two-thirds (66 per cent) of users to say they would be somewhat likely to switch to another social network.

The research suggests the qualities that make social networks successful – the wide variety of communication channels, the openness of the networks and the size of the audience – are powerful lures for spammers and hackers. The survey also suggests that:

• The majority (80 per cent) of social network users are at least somewhat concerned about spam, phishing and virus attacks on their social or professional network account
• Many users (37 per cent) have noticed an increase in the number of unwanted messages they have received in the last six months
• Nearly one in five users (17 percent) say the increase has been significant
• On average, users have reported receiving 64 spam “friend” invitations, messages or postings in the last 12 months

Further reading

• How can you make money from social networking?
• How can a CIO make the most of Web 2.0?
• Social web is about improvement, not innovation
• Next generation social networking
• Finding useful Web 2.0 and social networking tools
• Facebook? LinkedIn? Social networking is rubbish

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Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels