Are we seeing the death of email?

Have our inboxes grown too quickly? Is email passé? Are terms such as ‘Facebook me’ about to become the norm and kill email entirely?

I read an interesting article by Erik Qualman this morning about Generation Z no longer using email and using social networks instead.

Erik writes: “Just as people use Google as a verb — Google it — they’re starting to use phrases like "Facebook Me." People are no longer exchanging e-mails; they’re exchanging social media information. In many instances, they will never get this e-mail address. If they desire this type of communication, the social networks have inboxes of their own that replicate and replace e-mail.”

I must admit we appear to be using Facebook, Skype, Yahoo etc much more often to send messages around but email still remains a key tool for the job I do in digital communications.

1. Do I seriously see this changing soon? No
2. Do I see this changing over the next five years? Possibly

Useful services like Meebo which aggregate the various instant messaging services are likely to become increasingly popular and as the walls of the social networks drop further and contacts become easier to share between our MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, accounts – the need for email will certainly diminish.

Are we seeing the death of email? I would say maybe but I think it’s likely to be a slow death…

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  Sebastian Mysko

  December 16th

  I know a few people who’ve gone down this way of thinking. It’s all fine until you need to do something like send an attachment (and can’t be arsed with the whole uploading to an FTP scenario)… then you’re in a pickle. I suppose on IM like AIM and Skype you can easily drop a file into a text box and it’ll fly where it should, but it’s all just so unorganized. I use Outlook 2007, which obviously holds my tasks, calendar, emails, and contacts, which incidentally all link up to my new shiny blackberry bold. I guess the debate should be argued from both a social and work angle. I’ll be the first to admit I started saying..”Facebook me” or “hit me up on Skype” about a year ago.. sad as that sounds… but never did I say that to a client or business associate. It’s basically ‘social network slang’… shit… have we just invented a new acronym that’ll be found in future marketing books!??