I am a spammer, apparently.
Today I accepted an invitation to Shelfari. I won’t link to it because I’m pissed at them right now. I let the system access my gmail account so I could see what friends were already on there. I clicked to invite those friends already on the service. Fine, right? After that I was going to go through all the imported addresses from my contacts list and send some other invitations. Well, I use gmail, so my address book contains the addresses of every person, list serv, business, etc that I’ve ever emailed. And if you’ve ever emailed with me you already know what happened. Invites went out to my entire address list.
That would be fine–because I do want to know what everyone is reading–if it only went to friends and acquaintences both in the real world and online. But it also went out to former teachers, former friends, people I’ve bought and sold with on eBay, business contacts, relatives, etc etc etc.
And so then I got the bright idea to email an apology for the spam to my entire address book and Gmail decided that I’m a spammer and shut me down for 24 hours. But I only got to send that email to the first 500 people in my 837 contact address book. So I’m shut out of sending email AND I’ve now spammed people twice in a one-hour period.
Ugh.
I think I’m just going to put the laptop down and back slowly away.
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oh THAT’s what it was! ;o)
no prob – and how could I possibly be FIRST for the first time in my old crotchety life?
;o)
xx
mhv
Posted by: Margaret
Don’t worry, hon’. You’re not the first to be gotten by these guys.
Posted by: Sarah
I also, so THAT’s what it was. I’ve received these invites before, and also knew who it was from by name, but the invite is suspiciously generic (i.e., spammy) and not knowing much about Shelfari I delete them 🙁 That’s really not cool of them.
Posted by: jillian
That probably also explains some other weird invitations I’ve gotten from some more distant acquaintances. But spam is spam, Cari. You’re going to jail now.
Posted by: sutton
And I was so flattered that you’d picked me!
😉
G*d bless the internets.
Posted by: Lynn in Tucson
Heh. I thought it sounded a little funny but I was also perfectly fine with receiving it. They really ought to fix that, though.
Posted by: Lizbon
I forgive you. 🙂
Posted by: melanie
oh THAT’s what it was! ;o)
no prob – and how could I possibly be FIRST for the first time in my old crotchety life?
;o)
xx
mhv
Posted by: Margaret
Don’t worry, hon’. You’re not the first to be gotten by these guys.
Posted by: Sarah
I also, so THAT’s what it was. I’ve received these invites before, and also knew who it was from by name, but the invite is suspiciously generic (i.e., spammy) and not knowing much about Shelfari I delete them 🙁 That’s really not cool of them.
Posted by: jillian
That probably also explains some other weird invitations I’ve gotten from some more distant acquaintances. But spam is spam, Cari. You’re going to jail now.
Posted by: sutton
And I was so flattered that you’d picked me!
😉
G*d bless the internets.
Posted by: Lynn in Tucson
Heh. I thought it sounded a little funny but I was also perfectly fine with receiving it. They really ought to fix that, though.
Posted by: Lizbon
I forgive you. 🙂
Posted by: melanie
No worries! It happens.
Posted by: Mish
I was wondering what that email was about. I deleted it, but no worries. I hope you get your account back. I was locked out back in January so now my blog and my email are different Google accounts which can be hard at times but I would rather not be locked out of my blog.
Posted by: chrispy
I didn’t think it was spam at first. We’d commented back and forth once about Haruki Murakami, so I thought you’d really kept track of people who read the same things you do.
Speaking of which, and a different Murakami (Ryu), have you read “Coin Locker Babies”? Darker, but equally readable – to me.
Do you like this site more than LibraryThing?
Posted by: Jenn
Don’t fret too much about it. Personally, I went from honoured to mystified in less than a second.
That is a dirty trick accessing your gmail account to spam people.
Posted by: loriz
that is a dirty trick…but i wouldnt worry about it either, i am actually kinda intrigued by the site and started perusing it. 🙂
Posted by: stephanie
Fear not…I don’t even remember getting any spam from them so it must not have been a big deal. It was pretty thoughtful of you to send a note, though. So sorry that it caused you so much trouble. Like you have the time to deal with this right now with the writing schedule, being a Mom and setting up a new house! Yikes!!
Posted by: Sheepish Annie
No worries.
Posted by: claudia
Ahh! That makes the email make sense now 🙂 Blast them! (not you!!!) for setting it up that way! And…you are always more than welcome to spam me :o)
Posted by: Stephanie
No worries! It happens.
Posted by: Mish
I was wondering what that email was about. I deleted it, but no worries. I hope you get your account back. I was locked out back in January so now my blog and my email are different Google accounts which can be hard at times but I would rather not be locked out of my blog.
Posted by: chrispy
I didn’t think it was spam at first. We’d commented back and forth once about Haruki Murakami, so I thought you’d really kept track of people who read the same things you do.
Speaking of which, and a different Murakami (Ryu), have you read “Coin Locker Babies”? Darker, but equally readable – to me.
Do you like this site more than LibraryThing?
Posted by: Jenn
Don’t fret too much about it. Personally, I went from honoured to mystified in less than a second.
That is a dirty trick accessing your gmail account to spam people.
Posted by: loriz
that is a dirty trick…but i wouldnt worry about it either, i am actually kinda intrigued by the site and started perusing it. 🙂
Posted by: stephanie
Fear not…I don’t even remember getting any spam from them so it must not have been a big deal. It was pretty thoughtful of you to send a note, though. So sorry that it caused you so much trouble. Like you have the time to deal with this right now with the writing schedule, being a Mom and setting up a new house! Yikes!!
Posted by: Sheepish Annie
No worries.
Posted by: claudia
Ahh! That makes the email make sense now 🙂 Blast them! (not you!!!) for setting it up that way! And…you are always more than welcome to spam me :o)
Posted by: Stephanie
Dang. And I actually thought somebody wanted to be my friend . I’m reading “Wanderer” by Sterling Hayden right now. Interesting. Chauvinistic, egotistical and very engaging and insightful.
Posted by: Andi
So that’s where it came from 🙂 Just yesterday I was going through Gmail and cleaning out contacts – I really don’t like how they’ve set it up to save everyone you’ve ever emailed or heard from. Hope Gmail lets you back in 🙂
Posted by: Kate
It happens. No biggie. My husband did the same thing the other day (different website) and spammed his entire address book. whaddya gonna do?
Posted by: Kim
Don’t feel too bad, I did the same thing with GoodReads about 2 weeks ago, I chose to not write an apology but I am still getting teased by a couple of friends who don’t read about the fact that they got and that it went out to our stuffiest professor who they imagine doesn’t “want to be my friend?”. I think most people were either curious or just disregarded it right away. I understand teh frustration though, it sucks to feel used like that.
Posted by: Lauren
Don’t worry! I felt loved 😉
I actually went through my gmail contacts and deleted a bunch of people whose addresses I had, but had no idea who they were because Facebook almost did the same thing to me.
Posted by: Amy
Yeah, don’t sweat it. 🙂
Posted by: shannon in oregon
Dude, it happens.
The onus is definitely on them for making it much too easy to inadvertently spam people this way. And I’m quite sure they have deliberately placed the search-my-address-book thingy this early in the process to confuse you into doing precisely this. I’m going to use this as an example of ‘what not to do’ in my talks with clients about social software do’s & don’ts.
Posted by: marrije
Dang. And I actually thought somebody wanted to be my friend . I’m reading “Wanderer” by Sterling Hayden right now. Interesting. Chauvinistic, egotistical and very engaging and insightful.
Posted by: Andi
So that’s where it came from 🙂 Just yesterday I was going through Gmail and cleaning out contacts – I really don’t like how they’ve set it up to save everyone you’ve ever emailed or heard from. Hope Gmail lets you back in 🙂
Posted by: Kate
It happens. No biggie. My husband did the same thing the other day (different website) and spammed his entire address book. whaddya gonna do?
Posted by: Kim
Don’t feel too bad, I did the same thing with GoodReads about 2 weeks ago, I chose to not write an apology but I am still getting teased by a couple of friends who don’t read about the fact that they got and that it went out to our stuffiest professor who they imagine doesn’t “want to be my friend?”. I think most people were either curious or just disregarded it right away. I understand teh frustration though, it sucks to feel used like that.
Posted by: Lauren
Don’t worry! I felt loved 😉
I actually went through my gmail contacts and deleted a bunch of people whose addresses I had, but had no idea who they were because Facebook almost did the same thing to me.
Posted by: Amy
Yeah, don’t sweat it. 🙂
Posted by: shannon in oregon
Dude, it happens.
The onus is definitely on them for making it much too easy to inadvertently spam people this way. And I’m quite sure they have deliberately placed the search-my-address-book thingy this early in the process to confuse you into doing precisely this. I’m going to use this as an example of ‘what not to do’ in my talks with clients about social software do’s & don’ts.
Posted by: marrije
No worries. Stuff happens.
Posted by: terri
As someone who only knows enough about computers to get my daily work done, I feel for you. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. We all still love you.
Posted by: Anna
Hey – it’s much better than snailmail SPAM which we all get occasionally – at least it didn’t “spend” a forest. Not to worry – the delete key’s pretty easy to hit.
Posted by: robin
I guess I was in the top 500, I got both. Thanks for trying to correct it and please don’t worry about it too much. You’ve now repaid your debt to society by teaching us how it works and to be wary in future so we don’t become spammers!
Posted by: Toni K.
Agreeing with Robin, above. It’s OK. Our poor mail carrier schleps mountains of paper up our little hill – there’s so much that sometimes he brings it by truck – and 99% of it goes right in the trash. What a waste. Your inadvertent spam took but a moment to recognize and delete.
Posted by: Mary K. in Rockport
Hey, at least you’re not concerned about the size of my pe.nisss.
Posted by: anina
G-mail thinks I’m a spammer when I reply to my comments too efficiently, and that’s one at a time!
I got both e-mails (in both of my e-mail accounts 🙂 ), and I wasn’t at all annoyed!
Posted by: Kristy
No worries. Stuff happens.
Posted by: terri
As someone who only knows enough about computers to get my daily work done, I feel for you. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. We all still love you.
Posted by: Anna
Hey – it’s much better than snailmail SPAM which we all get occasionally – at least it didn’t “spend” a forest. Not to worry – the delete key’s pretty easy to hit.
Posted by: robin
I guess I was in the top 500, I got both. Thanks for trying to correct it and please don’t worry about it too much. You’ve now repaid your debt to society by teaching us how it works and to be wary in future so we don’t become spammers!
Posted by: Toni K.
Agreeing with Robin, above. It’s OK. Our poor mail carrier schleps mountains of paper up our little hill – there’s so much that sometimes he brings it by truck – and 99% of it goes right in the trash. What a waste. Your inadvertent spam took but a moment to recognize and delete.
Posted by: Mary K. in Rockport
Hey, at least you’re not concerned about the size of my pe.nisss.
Posted by: anina
G-mail thinks I’m a spammer when I reply to my comments too efficiently, and that’s one at a time!
I got both e-mails (in both of my e-mail accounts 🙂 ), and I wasn’t at all annoyed!
Posted by: Kristy
Now I know why I get so many invites! Good reason to stay away. It’s not you…it’s THEM! 😉
Posted by: margene
I received both emails. I thought it was very nice and polite of you it was to apologize. No worries!
Posted by: knittripps
That happened to me too. The invite went out to EVERYONE in my gmail account because gmail keeps track of EVERYONE I’ve ever messaged with.
Sigh. When I got responses back from ex-boyfriends, I ignored and pretended I had no idea what happeneed. 😀
Posted by: Kim
Well, it could be worse. Here’s a link to a story about a famous conductor who made an assignation with a lover in a hotel in China and accidentally CC’d the message (which finished with the words “I want you to be naked when I get there”) to his entire address book, including his family.
http://parterre.com/2007/10/i-cc-what-you-did-there.html
Your story, on the other hand, can be seen as the universe giving you a way to reestablish contact with your past now that you’ve moved.
Perhaps an e-Bay seller will be moved to send you some yarn.
Posted by: YTT
Well, you already got my “it’s ok” note – so I just have to say man, Shelfari sure hides that little option about not inviting friends, don’t they? I did go ahead and invite one friend, though. [g] Also did it through my gmail account (which I use mostly as a spamtrap), and it didn’t send any extras. Wonder how the heck it managed to get everyone in yours?
Posted by: MonicaPDX
Don’t worry–totally not your fault. And I *did* get the aplogy email too. You should file a formal complaint with Shelfari, though. And possibly the Better Business Bureau, or whoever has any power to monitor sites like that.
Posted by: Sneaksleep
This happens a lot with this type of site, nowadays. It’s gotten so that I wait a week before going to any of these site invites because a lot of them spam your address book. I’m sure no-one thinks it’s your fault. It’s super nice of you to apologize by e-mail and on-line!
Posted by: Amy in StL
Now I know why I get so many invites! Good reason to stay away. It’s not you…it’s THEM! 😉
Posted by: margene
I received both emails. I thought it was very nice and polite of you it was to apologize. No worries!
Posted by: knittripps
That happened to me too. The invite went out to EVERYONE in my gmail account because gmail keeps track of EVERYONE I’ve ever messaged with.
Sigh. When I got responses back from ex-boyfriends, I ignored and pretended I had no idea what happeneed. 😀
Posted by: Kim
Well, it could be worse. Here’s a link to a story about a famous conductor who made an assignation with a lover in a hotel in China and accidentally CC’d the message (which finished with the words “I want you to be naked when I get there”) to his entire address book, including his family.
http://parterre.com/2007/10/i-cc-what-you-did-there.html
Your story, on the other hand, can be seen as the universe giving you a way to reestablish contact with your past now that you’ve moved.
Perhaps an e-Bay seller will be moved to send you some yarn.
Posted by: YTT
Well, you already got my “it’s ok” note – so I just have to say man, Shelfari sure hides that little option about not inviting friends, don’t they? I did go ahead and invite one friend, though. [g] Also did it through my gmail account (which I use mostly as a spamtrap), and it didn’t send any extras. Wonder how the heck it managed to get everyone in yours?
Posted by: MonicaPDX
Don’t worry–totally not your fault. And I *did* get the aplogy email too. You should file a formal complaint with Shelfari, though. And possibly the Better Business Bureau, or whoever has any power to monitor sites like that.
Posted by: Sneaksleep
This happens a lot with this type of site, nowadays. It’s gotten so that I wait a week before going to any of these site invites because a lot of them spam your address book. I’m sure no-one thinks it’s your fault. It’s super nice of you to apologize by e-mail and on-line!
Posted by: Amy in StL
I wouldn’t worry about it, other than being locked out of your gmail. I really don’t think that it was your fault at all…it’s the stupid websites that do that and then have the gall to say that it isn’t what they are doing. HA!!!!
Posted by: Lynda
Oh boo! That stinks.
I’d probably want to step away from the computer too!
Posted by: Jen S.
No worries, hazard of the information age.
Posted by: Heidi
Ugh! What a pain. I’ve been getting a bunch of those Shelfari emails, so I’m sure people are used to seeing these. Don’t worry too much about it! But it is a drag that Gmail shut you down.
Posted by: Julie
Apologize for the frustration and confusion. I am an employee of Shelfari and found your blog a bit disconcerting. Shelfari by no means forces or tricks its members in anyway to sending invitations to all of their contacts. If you would send me your email address, I can assure that no reminder emails are sent.
I hope this helps.
-Danny from Shelari
Posted by: danny
Shelfari is in beta and actively seeking feedback, so tell them how peeved you are! It needs a little usability work, definitely. Thanks to your warning, I was extra cautious about my own address book. But thanks to you I did check out the site and think it has great potential.
I’ll be hoping to put your book on my shelf there shortly. 🙂
Posted by: Deepa
This is definitely a glitch of the highest order!
Even if Shelfari doesn’t make you do it, they sure don’t make the event hard to avoid. What’s the difference?
If so many people are *making mistakes* (I’ve gotten a ton of invites) then the Shelfari folks need to tighten up their ship.
Posted by: Bonne Marie
I wouldn’t worry about it, other than being locked out of your gmail. I really don’t think that it was your fault at all…it’s the stupid websites that do that and then have the gall to say that it isn’t what they are doing. HA!!!!
Posted by: Lynda
Oh boo! That stinks.
I’d probably want to step away from the computer too!
Posted by: Jen S.
No worries, hazard of the information age.
Posted by: Heidi
Ugh! What a pain. I’ve been getting a bunch of those Shelfari emails, so I’m sure people are used to seeing these. Don’t worry too much about it! But it is a drag that Gmail shut you down.
Posted by: Julie
Apologize for the frustration and confusion. I am an employee of Shelfari and found your blog a bit disconcerting. Shelfari by no means forces or tricks its members in anyway to sending invitations to all of their contacts. If you would send me your email address, I can assure that no reminder emails are sent.
I hope this helps.
-Danny from Shelari
Posted by: danny
Shelfari is in beta and actively seeking feedback, so tell them how peeved you are! It needs a little usability work, definitely. Thanks to your warning, I was extra cautious about my own address book. But thanks to you I did check out the site and think it has great potential.
I’ll be hoping to put your book on my shelf there shortly. 🙂
Posted by: Deepa
This is definitely a glitch of the highest order!
Even if Shelfari doesn’t make you do it, they sure don’t make the event hard to avoid. What’s the difference?
If so many people are *making mistakes* (I’ve gotten a ton of invites) then the Shelfari folks need to tighten up their ship.
Posted by: Bonne Marie
if you’re into that kind of site, i would try good reads–it’s very clear when you invite–albeit you see a check in each box beside each address, so you just either uncheck or just invite manually. i think i already mentioned that though, so if i did, apologies! 😛
Posted by: k
Too funny! I think it’s a great concept, though!
Posted by: liz
Cari, this is too funny. It’s Sunday morning and I get a reminder that I “have not responded to your friendly invite to Shelfari”. Don’t be too upset, babe. That is unless you get locked out of your own email again.
Posted by: Judith in NYC
Cari,
I’m getting that same reminder about not accepting your friendly invitation. I have almost done the same thing with both Linkedin and Plaxo recently, so I understand the situation.
Posted by: The Spinning Guy (Kim)
Yep, got another invite this morning as well.
Posted by: Toni
No sweat – hope everything gets worked out!
Posted by: Alyssa
Oh, what a pain in the tush for you! Well, I’m honored to be among the “spammed”, and I swear I’ll get around to responding to it soon-ish. Just *promise* me you won’t try to sell me a bigger {redacted} or prescriptions cheap-cheap honest fast ONLINE NOW Viagra Vicodin OxyContin… 😉
Posted by: Mother Chaos
http://www.observer.com/2007/caught-shelfari-s-sticky-web-no-more-friends-please
Posted by: Marc
if you’re into that kind of site, i would try good reads–it’s very clear when you invite–albeit you see a check in each box beside each address, so you just either uncheck or just invite manually. i think i already mentioned that though, so if i did, apologies! 😛
Posted by: k
Too funny! I think it’s a great concept, though!
Posted by: liz
Cari, this is too funny. It’s Sunday morning and I get a reminder that I “have not responded to your friendly invite to Shelfari”. Don’t be too upset, babe. That is unless you get locked out of your own email again.
Posted by: Judith in NYC
Cari,
I’m getting that same reminder about not accepting your friendly invitation. I have almost done the same thing with both Linkedin and Plaxo recently, so I understand the situation.
Posted by: The Spinning Guy (Kim)
Yep, got another invite this morning as well.
Posted by: Toni
No sweat – hope everything gets worked out!
Posted by: Alyssa
Oh, what a pain in the tush for you! Well, I’m honored to be among the “spammed”, and I swear I’ll get around to responding to it soon-ish. Just *promise* me you won’t try to sell me a bigger {redacted} or prescriptions cheap-cheap honest fast ONLINE NOW Viagra Vicodin OxyContin… 😉
Posted by: Mother Chaos
http://www.observer.com/2007/caught-shelfari-s-sticky-web-no-more-friends-please
Posted by: Marc