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.