You know about email spam. You cannot avoid it, you cannot Can it, you cannot toss it though it is passed the expiration date, and you cannot even make a decent sandwich with it.
But you know what this is, blog readers?
That is my breakfast, yum, it is “Bacn”!
Yes, the new hot meme talk is about Bacn “email you want- but not right now” – from the official site–
Bacn is a new problem now plaguing our email inboxes. Putting it simply, Bacn is email you receive that isn’t spam”¦ And isn’t personal mail. It’s the middle class of email. It’s notifications of a new post to your Facebook wall or a new follower on Twitter. It’s the Google alert for your name and the newsletter from your favorite company.
We are a group of like-minded individuals who have realized the problem of bacn, and are out to find a solution. You can now join the discussion in our forum and help us further define bacn as we begin our efforts to manage our bacn. Bacn was first used during an impromptu discussion about email and spam during Podcamp Pittsburgh.
With hardly anything really done about spam, I have no expectations the Bacn dudes can fare better.
How about this?
Spam with a hefty side order order of bacn!
I’ve been concerned about this problem for the last two weeks. I was determined to solve it. Those mails can scroll the page and leave an important one out of sight.
This is what I did:
I decided to create filters in my Gmail for all mail coming from a ‘noreply’ address and for phrases like:
-‘has added you as a friend’ or similar.
Fortunately, these mails are not highly imaginative in their wording, which helps the filter do its job.
For every new tool I try (more and more everyday), I need an account and a valid email. When they ask me to confirm, I create a filter for that email address. It is a new *reflex* I have acquired (would that be a kind of literacy?). I consider it part of the registration process. In future I will use just one tag for this: BACN.
Simple.
Perhaps this sounds like too much work. I just think of the time it will save me later.
My email is quite under control now. At least the inbox rarely shows a mail written by a machine. I can still use and benefit from Gmail alert add-on to quick scan what is coming in and stop what I am doing if it is really urgent.
I like to choose what to read and when to read it. I like answering ‘friendly’ requests when I am spending time in those applications and feeling in a likewise friendly mood, which might match the original sender’s intentions and create some virtual bond.
Yes, that sounds all do-able Claudia. I also almost as easily mass delete them from the subject line. There are different approaches.
The larger question for me is- how advanced are all of the web 2.0 technologies that continue to notify you via pre web 1.0 methods? Are any of them providing RSS notifications streams??
Its sort of like the Post Office calling me on the phone everytime someone mails me a letter.
I just turn off the notifications. I’m going to the sites anyway and will see the notification when I get there, so I don’t need it coming to my mail. I barely get any because of that.