The Vandals are coming! In addition to this time they’re behind your wallets.

It’s a fresh form of insidious spam in addition to approximating its inbred email cousin, it’s staggeringly stupid.

People are vandalizing “Wikis” in an attempt to obtain free of charge advertising for their business.

First, what’s a wiki?

If you’re not recognizable with this miniature web phenomenon, you should immediately dig in in addition to learn. “Wiki” (pronounced “wee kee”) is Hawaiian for “quick.” In addition to rapid it is. The word is second-hand on the web for a page that *anyone* can edit.

When I first heard of this concept I immediately thought “there is no way it will work - it will be utter chaos” but the mass proliferation of wikis in addition to their clear accomplishment have proven me wrong.

The medium lends itself to various amazing ideas. For example, the “wikipedia” project is an online encyclopedia that anybody can edit. It’s surprisingly accurate in addition to useful.

Alas, as with every one enormous things on the Internet, there are forces out there organized in addition to willing to muck it up for everyone.

A “wiki vandal” is somebody who goes to a wiki in addition to posts erroneous information. Every now and then this is for entertaining (like posting your boss’s phone number in addition to sexual habits beneath a wiki entry on “bondage” - hehe), every now and then it’s for damage (like totally erasing an entry very soon since you are bitter on life), in addition to every now and then it’s for advertising (like editing an entry with links to your bazillion buck business “op*ortunity”).

Luckily, there are people out there watching the wikis who will alter erroneous info quickly. However, every now and then the vandalism is firm to catch in addition to it sticks.

Now, if the wiki vandals were smart, they’d create a relevant encyclopedia entry on themselves in addition to link to it from extra wiki entries.

Do it relevantly in addition to intelligently sufficient in addition to it might very soon stick in addition to get you various appropriate attention.

But, of course, we’re talking on spammers here, in addition to there is by now an encyclopedia entry for “Down’s Syndrome.”

Copyright 2004 Val Halla

About The Author

Val Halla researches Online Marketing Oddities. You can be alerted when she discovers incredible odd sufficient in addition to critical sufficient to merit your concentration when you call her site: http://www.webgodessvalhalla.com. She might be reached at: webgoddessvalhalla@yahoo.com