Last year during the Netpublics program, Mimi Ito remarked that we would be the last generation to use email. What comes next? The Chronicle of Higher Education looks into why Email is for Old People.
Last year during the Netpublics program, Mimi Ito remarked that we would be the last generation to use email. What comes next? The Chronicle of Higher Education looks into why Email is for Old People.
2 thoughts on “Email is for Old People”
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Is email a dying technology???
In what context would you be saying “email is for old people” or “email is a dying technology” [my words]. Is this just within a university or educational context or are you seeing/saying/predicting this on a larger relm?
I would be interested in reading more of what Mimi Ito says on this. But from just reading the [[https://chronicle.com/free/v53/i07/07a02701.htm|article]] you quote from the Chronicle of Higher Education it doesn’t say email is dying [again my word]. It does say that college students don’t read “official” university email. This should come to no big surprise to anyone. When do college students listen to any official statements or pieces of information? In fact some of the students quoted say they read their personal (i.e. non university email accounts); one having “a few commercial e-mail accounts that he checks daily”.
The trend that the article does highlight which I see as important is the students use of more real-time communication tools like text messaging or IM. In addition they talk about “portals of communication” like MySpace which one could describe (with the educational theme in mind) as a “virtual dorm lounge”.
So the conclusion I make is that there are newer technologies within a university setting that students use more often in order to better communicate. But it seems at least from the few thoughts put forth that this is a long way away from concluding that “email is for old people”.
maybe, maybe not
The issue is whether students are spending more of their energy on other forms of communication than on email.
danah boyd has another comment on the topic. I suppose that I am showing my age when unlike danah, I have little delight in checking my email (I am obsessive about it only because if I am not, I will fall behind completely) and have no interest in myspace (having become bored of the whole thing when friendster died), but am still excited when my mail comes to the front door. I suppose I could read the Economist on its site, but it's much more satisfying on paper.