Funny that I read an online Wall Street Journal Article today which basically predicts the demise of the email. According to the author Jessica E. Vascellaro, the social media tools have overtaken email in today’s world. Here is an excerpt from Ms. Vascellaro’s article:
“In its place, a new generation of services is starting to take hold—services like Twitter and Facebook and countless others vying for a piece of the new world. And just as email did more than a decade ago, this shift promises to profoundly rewrite the way we communicate—in ways we can only begin to imagine.”
As an avid social media user, I live and breathe Web 2.0 tools everyday. Although I agree certain points she made in her article, I have to say, in general, her claim is pretty bold. Here are a few arguments from my perspectives why email still remains relevant for now and in the near future.
1. It’s My Message Aggregator
Just like FriendFeed, my email client aggregates important messages and alerts from different social media sites with which I am actively engaged. Here are quite a few examples.
- I receive an email every time somebody leaves a comment or ping on my blog
- I receive an email every time somebody submits an application to join the NYEBN group (powered on social media platform)
- I receive an email every time somebody makes a PayPal payment to me
- I receive an email every time my favorite blogs are updated (email RSS)
- I receive an email once a day from Google about the my favorite topics mentioned on the Internet (Google Alerts)
- I receive an email once a day from a Twitter client about the number of new followers I gained and old followers I lost
The examples can go on an on, but you get my point. Because of the overwhelming number of social networks we are involved today, we would be drained both physically and emotionally if we had to check on each of those sites constantly and separately. Imagine how easy life would be if you could manage all your social activities from just one place, such as your email.
2. Time Waster or Time Saver?
This is always an interesting question to ask. Does social media make our lives more complicated or simpler? Well, first off, allow me to share a story about Bill Gates. Back in July 25th, Bill admitted he gave up on Facebook. According to him, too much unproductive time was wasted on Facebook. He even says himself that “All these tools of tech waste our time if we’re not careful.” If even Bill can’t manage his time well on Facebook, imagine who will? I enjoy Facebook because it allows me to build a network, a community. However, often times I did get spammed pretty badly especially with my message inbox. I guess it’s a trade-off. I couldn’t stand the fact that sometimes people get addicted to social media sites, often checking them 10-20 times a day. I’ve written an article about how to get rid of this obsession, check it out here.
With email on the other hand, you can manage your time better. Tim Ferriss recommends you check your email once a day, since you can process your email messages in bulk. I’ve written an article about Tim Ferriss’s book “The 4-Hour Workweek,” check it out here. At least for me, I get to focus on the tasks at hand and gain better efficiency at getting my projects done knowing that my emails will stay there and things will get resolved as I check them later at a predetermined time. Better time management, higher efficiency!
3. Google Wave vs. Email
It’s funny that Ms. Vascellaro did a comparison between Google Wave and email. Although there is a lot of buzz about Wave, some experts in the tech world are not too excited about it, Robert Scoble being one of them. Read his latest review about Wave. Google Wave is now in test phase. In my opinion, the success of this product depends on its developers. It could be exciting in the future. But to make a prediction by anybody that it’s going to replace email or any conclusions like that is just purely naive. Read my review about Google Wave here.
Conclusion
Maybe 30 years from now, email will be replaced by some new tools. But for now, we need this tool to conduct private, one-on-one conversations with our friends and people we care. Twitter won’t do this because 99% of your followers are probably some people you’ve never even met before. While Ms. Vascellaro’s article is arguable, I still find she makes some good points here and there. For example, I also believe social media is a movement, which is becoming an unstoppable trend. To sum it up, I couldn’t imagine a world without emails. We all need this wonderful tool more than anything else on the internet. What is your take on this? Let us know.
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