Thank you, Gary Thuerk.
If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t know about all the options I have for weight loss, the number of Nigerian princesses that desperately need my help, or the variety of penis enlargement pills available on the market.
That’s right. Without Thuerk, unsolicited emails would not exist as we know them today, and spam would only refer to meat stuffed into tin cans.
On May 3, 1978, Thuerk sent every ARPANET address on the West Coast of the United States an email that advertised a new computer he was selling on behalf of the Digital Equipment Corporation, putting himself in the history books and setting a Guinness World Record.
In 2008 on the 30th anniversary of the first spam email, Thuerk told NPR that he was “the father of spam, the grandfather of spam, the original spammer. Back in 1978, I sent the first e-mail spam to 400 unsuspecting people. I went through the ARPANET directory, which was like a printed phone book. There were about 2,600 people on the ARPANET. And I checked off about 400 names, and I composed the invitation to come see a demo of the new product.”
Using the ARPANET — a precursor to the Internet — this way put digital communication down a new path.
Combined with the devices in our pockets, we face constant bombardment from a variety of messaging channels. Though social media, text messages, and the like contribute their fair share, email demands a lot of our attention thanks to society’s inability to strike a healthy work-life balance and the incessant alerts about the latest sales and products.
Personally, I can’t stand seeing the red notifications icon on my phone’s email app, so I compulsively check my messages.
I try to unsubscribe from as many of the unwanted email lists as I can, and I have my spam filters cranked up to 11. Still, the messages continue to come. I hate it.
The irony is that as a journalist and media scholar, I see immense value in emails, especially email newsletters that help support and disseminate the news.
These types of digital products can be more personal and engaging than social media posts that often get lost in the ether due to the opaque algorithms powering sites like Facebook or X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Granted, using email newsletters to share news reports might seem antiquated, but many news outlets leverage this delivery system to connect with their audiences and keep them informed. Furthermore, research shows audiences like receiving news via email newsletters.
After all, it’s reminiscent of the bygone days when a youngster on a bicycle would race by and fling the physical paper onto the front porch. The news just lands in your inbox.
That’s why it seems fitting that May 3 is also World Press Freedom Day, as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on the recommendation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
According to the WPFD website, the day highlights “the significant role played by the press, journalism, access, and dissemination of information to ensure and secure a sustainable future that respects the rights of individuals and their diversity of voices, as well as gender equality.”
Journalism is important. It plays a vital role in our democracy. We must stay informed about what’s going on at home and abroad. Reading an email newsletter is one of many ways to do this.
Just don’t confuse the news emails with those urgent messages from the FBI that need you to reply with your social security number and banking information.
Todd R. Vogts, Ph.D., is a native of Canton, a resident of McPherson County, and an assistant professor of media at Sterling College. He can be contacted with questions or comments via his website at www.toddvogts.com.
