Email is dead, Long live email

IIs email dead? I have heard this declaration many times and from several people you might call Web 2.0 influencers. Honestly, it makes me laugh. I mean no disrespect, but how can anyone make such a statement?

The proof, after all, is in the pudding. In the U.S. alone, there are over 170 million email users; that represents roughly 60% of the U.S. population and more than 90% of U.S. internet users. There are more than 1.4 billion active email accounts worldwide. According to eMarketer, email is the most commonly used application of the internet, and 48% of users report spending at least one hour per day checking email.

So why do some very well-educated people make such statements? Is the number of active email accounts declining? No!!! In fact, eMarketer claims that the number of email users in the U.S. will grow 14% to 194 million users by 2011.

So what’s up?

To give these “influencers” the benefit of doubt, I think what they are trying to say is that there exist newer and in some cases better ways for users to communicate over the Net. Instant messaging services such as AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Skype, etc. are great for real-time communication. Many corporations are utilizing these services to improve worker efficiency. In addition, instant messaging aggregation companies, such as Meebo and Trillian have enjoyed tremendous user adoption.

IM is only one of the many new online communication technologies that have began to proliferate. Many users are going to their social networks to communicate with friends and colleagues. Web2.0 startups like Twitter and Jabber have merged SMS text messaging and IM and are currently the talk of the town (at least on the Web).

I will concede that many of these new services offer the advantage of real-time two-way communication. I personally utilize many of the above-mentioned services; and they are great. But I will never give up my many email accounts. I will continue to use them as my primary form of online communication. Furthermore, as long as most global companies continue to rely on email, it is not going anywhere. If email is dead, then long live email.

How Do You Do? How do you Email?

Please pardon my interruption, but I noticed you from the other side of the Web and I was curious if I can buy you a drink. And by the way, how do you email?

I know it’s a terrible pickup line. And no, I have never followed up a pick up line with a discussion about email. In fact, I really don’t throw out many pick up lines. But “How do you email” is a question that I ask many people I meet. There are so many ways to email; most people have multiple accounts; and I am genuinely curious how the average user manages her many inboxes.

How do you email? Do you login to each account separately through each provider’s webmail client? Do you use an email client application, like Outlook, Thunderbird, or Lotus Notes? Do you forward all your email accounts to a single inbox? Do you use your Blackberry or iPhone?

I haven’t conducted research that you could necessarily call “scientific”, but I have asked this question many times. It turns out that the majority of email users choose to login to each account separately. I find this interesting because it sounds like a burden—an inefficient way to utilize a tool that is supposed to make communication more convenient.

So how do you email? Let me know. Maybe we can talk it over a drink.

How Many Email Accounts Do You Have?

How many email accounts do you have…2, 3, 17?

It is probably not a profound revelation, but most people have at least 2 email accounts. In fact, according to eMarketer (September 2007), of the 170 million U.S. email users, more than 94% (~160 million) have at least two email accounts and 65% of users (~128 million) utilize three or more accounts. I think it important to note that these stats do not include social networking accounts, which, if you really think about it, are dressed up messaging services. That means less than 6% of U.S. email users, a measly 10mm people, utilize a single email account.

Personally I have 4 accounts, but I only actively use two. I use one account for my business and a second for personal communications with friends and family. I rarely check my other two accounts, one of which is used for “junk” and “becn” (newsletters and e-commerce) and the other, well, it’s a relic of a former life, a dormant account that I just can’t part with.

So how do you use your various email accounts? Why do you keep them separate, if you do?

How Many Email Accounts Do You Have? 1) 1 2) 2 3) 3 4) 4 5) 5 6) >5 View Results Make your own poll