Weekend Poll: Social Media and E-mail

by Ken on October 17, 2009 · 5 comments

There has been a lot of debate lately about whether e-mail is dead or on it’s way out. Personally, I don’t happen to think so. But with more people using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., we have so many options for communication. Not to mention texting from our cells!

So this week’s question is: Now that there are many more options for both private and public communication, how has it changed the way you use e-mail, if at all?

This is a multi-part poll. First answer the poll about whether it has changed how much you use e-mail, then go to the comment section and tell us more. For instance, I find myself using e-mail much less, but I also use it in a different way. Direct messages on Twitter, texting, and Facebook messages have siphoned off much of my e-mail usage. But I still use e-mail for:

  • more professional communication
  • communicating with those not on Facebook/Twitter
  • more lengthy communication
  • communication with attachments/documents

So fill us in. Take the poll and comment below.

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I use email a little less because I can get in touch with my friends and co-workers other ways (texting, twitter, facebook, IM). I just had a group of girls I grew up with over to my house today and all the plans were made through Facebook. We're all on there, but we don't all have each other's other contact information. During the work day I IM with my west coast co-workers because it's faster than e-mail.

Still use email about the same, mostly business stuff-clients and inter-office. Even mix in a fax-remember those- every now and then.

Twitter and Facebook is like a "social phone call", a quick "touch" to build relationships with contacts. Email is more for my "inner circle"- clients, personal friends, and collaborators on projects.

E-mail is like my after hours deposit box. During the day IM, twitter, and facebook connects me much more efficiently.
Big attachments still work much better via e-mail.

In my experience, e-mail will continue to be a primary communications tool for companies. At my job, that's how I get in touch with people in the office and at multiple locations in seven counties, and it's how we send files. Will that change? Maybe eventually, but I don't see anything on the horizon that will change it very soon.

Ken, I voted "no change" because although I've been on Twitter for a while now, the majority of my friends, family and professional contacts still pay scant attention to Twitter or Facebook. So I still email the people whom I know can't be reached reliably any other way. Perhaps a more accurate answer would be that I email 95% as much as I did, and I expect it to keep going down, albeit slowly.

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