Why shouldn't I use the "Report Spam" or "Junk" button?

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In a slightly different vein, is it possible for correct, responsible use of the "Report Spam" button to INCREASE the amount of spam in my inbox? Actually, I guess it would really be DECREASING the amount of spam caught by the filter.

I use Gmail exclusively and for quite a while Google's spam filter seemed to be doing OK. Not stellar, but better than nothing.

A month or so ago, I got a wild hair (I won't say where) and started using the "Report Spam" button on Gmail more diligently. Since then, the amount of spam hitting my inbox seems to have gone up.

Is this "Bayesian Spam Filter Weirdness" real or just a statistical fluke caused by the fact that I'm paying attention to the amount of spam and therefore noticing it more. Or have I just been drinking too much Diet Coke?

"None of the above" :)

I've heard reports from several friends of mine with GMail accounts that GMail's spam filter seems to have hiccuped, and more has been getting through than should. I would assume that Google will fix this at some point soon.

Interestingly, not all GMail users are seeing it.

I THINK PEOPLE SHOULD TAKE MORE NOTICE OF WHAT THEIR SIGNING FOR AND THESES SPAM BUTTONS WOULDN'T HAVE TO BE PRESSED. AS FOR MYSELF I ONLY SIGN UP FOR WHAT I WANT SO I NEVER USE THE SPAM BUTTON FOR ANY REASON IF I GET E-MAIL I DON'T WANT OR ASK FOR I JUST DELETE IT A FEW TIMES AND THEY GET TIRED SENDING IT AND DON'T SEND ANYMORE.SO MY FAVOURITE BUTON ON THIS COMPUTER IS DELETE.

Well Chris, you really just don't seem to get it ?? It's pretty simple; it was YOU who subscribed to some newsletter (or whatever), an because of that simple fact, the e-mail messages you start getting are therefore not SPAM. And also, it is YOU who prevent other users of getting these legitimate messages, because you din't bother to unsubscibe and just hit the "Spam" button. Btw., this is all nicely explained in the original Leo's article. And I agree with Greg, i.e. this is without any doubt very selfish thing to do. On the other hand, Kristy just doesn't seem to understand the difference between SPAM and non-SPAM e-mails.

P.S., Recently, I discovered a real gem; an only 81 KB in-size anti-spam program from Keir software called K9: http://www.keir.net/k9.html. In short, K9 is an anti-spam application that "sits" between e-mail servers and an e-mail client (I use it with Mozilla Thunderbird); so it's not the type that only checks the servers for spam (however, it can also do that), but "ignores" the e-mail client. And well, it's also available in the "non-setup" form (the form of programs I prefer), i.e. a .zip archive, and no installation procedure required. Yeah, I know that this might sound strange, but that was the main reason for trying it in the first place.

best regards,
Ivan Tadej, Slovenija, Europe
http://www.tadej-ivan.tk

Well spam to me is unwanted mail. Perhaps I really did want it, but after a few months I didn't anymore, so its unwanted. Spam. And for all the insults, I've requested your newsletter and reported it as Spam, so good day all. Oh and thanks for the WMF notice, I'll download that patch. :p

Now for the flip side of all this. There are several "legitimate" business who have a "right" to contact me because I've done business with them, or signed up for their newsletters. But then when I try to use the "unsubscribe", it doesn't work.

I stress again, these are REAL companies, not "typical" spammers using the unsubscribe link to verify my existence. They just probably don't take the time to make the unsubscribe button actually work (why should they?).

Are THEY spam? Should I call these legitimate retailers "spammers", because they use spammer tactics? (looks like spam, talks like spam, quacks like spam, etc.)

You raise an incredibly good issue. Legitmate businesses that don't behave properly as as much to blame for not only spam, but for people's confusion as to what is and is not spam as well.

Chris, judging by your posts, you really look like a big baby crying for attention.

Incidently, your comments are similar in nature to one guy I happen to know. He has a very low IQ. Does that apply to you as well? I'm just making a reasonable assumption.

If you want to use the spam button, use it, but what's kiddish is the way you are yakking around here telling us that you used it, apparently just to piss us off.

I mistakenly pressed the THIS IS SPAM instead of the PRINT button on an email. The person who sent the email can no longer send emails to @netscape.net. This has created a huge issue since they can no longer send emails to netscape. I tried calling Netscape, but they are not helpful. Anyone have any suggestions how I can undo this? Please help!

I only use the spam button for genuine spam. Lately I've been using for publishers which I've opted into but they automatically decided to send me other news letters.

A good example of this is Gophercentral.com; sign up for their newsletters and they automatically subscribe you to a "video edition" of each newsletter. Essentially all the video edition is spam plugging another one of their sites. I never asked nor was told I would be subscibed to a "video edition" therefore it is spam.

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