|
11.21.07
Email Fading From Use Among The Young
 By
Doug Caverly
I tend to blink a few times upon receiving a handwritten letter, but there's an increasing realization that really young people - and I'm only in my 20s - might have the same reaction to an email.
With social networks like Facebook and MySpace providing messaging options, youngsters have been given one alternative; in the UK, a Hitwise reports proves that many of them have already taken advantage of it. After all, from Facebook to Bebo to MySpace, social networking is all the rage.
Various surveys, including a new one from AOL, also indicate that mobile instant messaging is growing in popularity. To again turn to the UK, a report found that around 1.2 billion text messages are sent in that region every week. The numbers are even more impressive in places like China.
Then there are services like Twittr, where communication falls somewhere between the complexity levels offered by a traditional social network and a text message.
Add something similar to the omnipresent AIM to the mix, and email - despite the "e" with which it begins - looks decidedly slow and outnumbered.
Chad Lorenz gave the issue quite a bit of thought, however, and concluded, "It's not hard to imagine a future communications command center where, on a single screen, you'll be able to choose between sending an e-mail, instant message, status note, or blog post - or sending all of them at once - and then have all those bits of text neatly and securely archived."
This sort of thing would, in theory, work for everyone. And since Lorenz posted that idea, it's a good bet that Google and at least a dozen startups have commenced working on it.
Also, it's a fair wager that not too many emails are being sent about in relation to the projects.
About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.
|
