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HOW TO: Reduce the Spam in Your Inbox, Mailbox and Voicemail


Pretty much anyone — man, woman or child — has at some point received an email telling them they weren't sufficiently endowed. This is spam, and it sucks.

Spam is one of the Internet constants that comes with being a digital citizen, but it extends into our analog lives as well. Have an email account, mailbox or phone number? You've probably received unsolicited or unwanted messages and promotions from magazines, companies, strangers, etc. hoping to grab your attention.

There are dozens of origin stories for how "spam" got its name. Spam was first the name of a food product better known for being gross than for being "ham." It got a bad reputation for it's bland taste, cheap price and presumably low-quality contents. Some say it's those qualities which made "spam" the apt nickname for the low-quality, nondescript messages that fill up our inboxes — digital and otherwise.

It has since taken on several less-than-kind bacronyms such as "Sales Promotion and Marketing," "Short Pointless Annoying Messages" and "Stupid Person's AdvertiseMents."

So how do you get rid of the spam in your life? We've got some quick tips on how to cut down your email spam, junk mail and unsolicited phone calls.

Your Advice?

That's a basic run through on decreasing spam in your life. Unfortunately there's no silver bullet, but these tips should help you control the amount of junk you get. What are your tips or best practices for dealing with spam? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Flickr, fiasco, Vince_Lamb

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