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Spam (Slightly) Less Annoying: Pew Internet Study

Most e-mail users are getting less spam than a year ago and are finding it only slightly less annoying. As reported by InternetRetailer.com, the recent Pew Internet study found that for personal e-mail accounts 28% of users report receiving spam, 22% are receiving less, while 47% say they’ve seen no change in spam volume.

For e-mail accounts at work, 21% claim to be receiving more spam, 16% are getting less spam, and 53% are receiving the same volume of spam.
Further stats reveal users may just be getting used to spam and finding it easier to spot and ignore. Asked how they trust e-mail because of spam, 53% report being less trusting of e-mail because of spam, compared to 62% a year ago; 22% attribute their decline in use of email to spam, compared to 29% a year ago; and 67% agreed that being online is unpleasant because of spam, down from 77% the previous year.
One of the scariest statistics reported is that of the 35% who reported receiving a ‘phishing’ scam, 2% actually provided financial information as a result of it.
A PDF report is available from the Pew Internet website.