It’s been said a thousand times before but deserves to be repeated a thousand times more: Do not blindly click on “Yes” or “Next” in any registration box when registering on a website without carefully reading what you’re agreeing to.

Many sites (some legitimate some not so much) have a multi-step registration process. First you pick a username and password, then you’re often asked to fill in your profile information, agree to the Terms of Service and quite often, whether or not you want to send an email or text message to your contacts inviting them to join you on this site. Beware of agreeing to that.

Granted, social sites are not as enjoyable when no one you know uses them. But too many of these sites will send out an unsolicited email on your behalf to every name on your Gmail, MSN, Yahoo or AOL contact list inviting them to join you at this site. Is this going to be welcomed by every one of your contacts? If I’m on your contact list the answer is a resounding NO. I’m happy you found a site you like. I might consider taking a look at it if you send me a personal message or email telling me why this particular site would appeal to me. But if I recieve a generic email from a site I’ve never heard of telling me that my friend has joined this site and I’m invited to do the same, I’m tossing that email in the trash and re-evaluating my opinion of that friendship.

Our email inboxes are already polluted with too much spam. Even the best mailbox filters can’t catch it all. When people on my contact list spam me, that garbage gets a pass from my filters, since it’s from someone I know.

So please, the next time you find a cute new game to play on Facebook or join a new social networking site, do not blindly click on the option to add all the friends on your contact list. Show your friends some respect. If you can select particular contacts to notify, and you know for a fact that this site will appeal to me, go ahead and send me an invite. But do it from your own email account so I know the invitation is intentional and not the result of a twitchy right index finger.

An example of the pitfalls of blindly sending out invitations to everyone on your contact list has been posted to Time’s website. It’s worth a read. Sean Gregory, Tagged: The World’s Most Annoying Website.