Spam

Derived from the Monty Python song 'Spam Spam Spam Spam', with seemingly endless repetition! Computer Spam is the electronic equivalent of Junk Mail. Companies and individuals who specialised previously in Mail Shots through the postal system have turned to Spam as a means of delivering (usually) worthless messages at a fraction of the cost of 'Snail Mail'. Given the huge databases now held on computers around the world, 'Spammers' can send literally hundreds of thousands of messages for a few pence, or cents. Some companies consider this to be a 'better' use of their marketing budgets than the traditional routes.

Spam is also a feature of Usenet, where individuals, who need to get out more, post lengthy and irrelevant messages to dozens, if not hundreds, of groups at a time, attracting considerable irritation, generating significant amounts of angry message transmissions, and sometimes starting a Flame War.