Holy Kaw! All the topics that interest us

 

Is email dying?

Posted Oct 13th, 2009 at 8:31 PM and seen
times

Stay on top of social media.

If a recent Wall Street Journal article is right about the new world, email is over: Email—once the meanace to such old world technologies as mail, pen, and paper—is now being replaced by Twitter, Facebook messages, and text messages. The article pulls these statistics:

- In August 2009, 276.9 million people used email in the US, Europe, Australia and Brazil.

- Email use grew 21% from 2008 to 2009.

- The number of social-networking users grew from 31% to 301.5 million people.

Perhaps the "end" of email is not quite as dramatic as the article suggests, although there's no doubt in my mind that new technologies have opened new and varied avenues to communicate. Email is still a challenge to paper—maybe just a passe one.

Agree? Feel free to comment or tweet.

By Noelle Chun

 Noelle Chun

Comments (23)

Oct 13, 2009
calebhays said...
Email is for more formal use. Others are personal. IMO.
Oct 13, 2009
thattalldude said...
I'm going to say email is dieing, but might be replaced by Wave, although it will take lots of patience.
Oct 13, 2009
Randy Hooker said...
Email is far from the death rattle. When more than 140 characters is needed, NOTHING beats email, so far.
Oct 13, 2009
Dean said...
No, email isn't dying. Why? Because certain laws require encryption and retention of email for specific lengths of time. Companies must be in compliance even though there is more convenient technology available.
Oct 13, 2009
shanegibson said...
E-mail and social media will integrate and merge... Google Wave Anyone?
Oct 13, 2009
Randy Hooker said...
Google Wave? Kiss my ass. Unveil the curtain on GW, and then we can discuss....
Oct 14, 2009
Long Nguyen said...
Why do people keep saying that email is dying? It's like saying that people don't need to breathe and eat anymore to live.
Oct 14, 2009
einspruch said...
Dying or not, it is certainly broken. % of spam means it is more burden than tool, overall.
Oct 14, 2009
chanderdeep said...
yeap ,e mail is about to die by sure since video mail has emerged as new communication technology.
Oct 14, 2009
beldobie said...
I hope it's not dying it's the easiest way for me to communicate with my friends.
Oct 14, 2009
Ninja Bloke said...
Email is dying from my point of view. Social networks are ruling personal web communication. The only time I send out emails is at work.
Oct 14, 2009
Lisa said...
I don't think email is dying, they are simply finding other ways to communicate MORE. I'd say that communication has increased in general (when did people ever broadcast what they were doing in the middle of the day?). We've just found more ways to communicate.
Oct 14, 2009
Anna Johnson said...
I don't think email is necessarily on its way to obsolete just yet. There's always things that email is better suited for than other social networks online- long reading paragraphs from people you know, people who like their privacy, people who like sending pictures to just one particular person, all without being spread across having to answer personal/direct/instant messages across different networks. And obviously, it holds to a more formal purpose as well.
Oct 14, 2009
hafeez raji said...
never gonne die, just get better, Google might have paid for that study to boost wave's marketability... just a theory
Oct 14, 2009
Phil Ayres said...
For businesses, email needs to be replaced for many functions. Workers use it as a crutch, because they are given no other way to communicate effectively within structured, or collaborative processes. The problem is that it is virtually impossible to track work inside email, and Google Wave is great for real-time collaboration, but seems a little lacking for anything that requires people to be offline for a while or doing something that requires structure.
Some workflow, some collaboration, some instant messaging and Wave. Email is for communicating by memo, none of the above.
Oct 14, 2009
i_meet said...
It's just evolution - at a faster and faster cycle. Even in our industry (corporate meetings and events) it was common to send and received faxes of 15 pages or more. Then email was used to ask if the fax had arrived!? Now systems include: photo, video and pdf uploads, instant messaging, massage threads and more.

I for one think it is empowering and exciting, and will have great (positive if you're ready for it) impact so hold on if you're ready and start scrambling if you're not!

BTW: Where's your fax machine? Heading to the recycle center like mine? :)

Oct 14, 2009
Rafael said...
Email will die after the dissemination of Google Waves
Oct 14, 2009
stevebellnow said...
Email's death will be slow. Look at snail mail - still around. Personally, I would like to see the proper usage for whatever the communication channel is.
Oct 14, 2009
LOU DELZOMPO said...
Try to communicate with a group of people greater than 50 (eg. a soccer league) using available email tools. Because of bulk mailers and their abuses, you are dead in the water. Less than 50 and it is easier to use FB or Twitter. I blame both the bulk mailers and the mail server / service companies equally. Email is now only useful as a CYA method.
Oct 14, 2009
Andrew Durham said...
email is absolutely the heart of the web. growth rates don't mean anything about the viability or longevity of a technology. more non-sequitors.
Oct 15, 2009
gratarian said...
The transition is being made because Twitter and Facebook have controls in place so you have some control over who contacts you. Obviously though, the more you secure yourself, the less you are available to legitimate users. If you did this with email, it would undermine half the usefulness of random people contacting a company they are interested in. Everyone has high hopes for Google Wave because Google is willing to try a new communications platform, where others want to use old technology and software and not adapt to the way things are changing. The trend continues that those who adapt will be at the forefront of technology and everyone else will take awhile to catch up.
Oct 18, 2009
Kyra Gaunt-Palmer said...
Once reason it can be argued that email is dying out can be seen in my college students in NYC. They resist email. Don't necessarily check email. They prefer SMS and its links but have been really resisting email for at least the last two years of my experience teaching. The younger generations are mobile users and as they grow I suspect email will die out
Oct 19, 2009
derrickhozw said...
Yep, I think it's ridiculous too to say that e-mail is dying. Can you imagine your boss drafting a tweet to confirm your promotion? I'd think it'll be a joke. http://www.newsy.com/videos/is_e_mail_dying has got some clear minded talking there.

Leave a comment...