This CNet article is the latest of several that I’ve seen recently about how teenagers just don’t use e-mail. They use text messaging or social networking sites. Here’s a quote from the article:
And if you’re among those who believe teens are the future, then e-mail could be knocked down a rung.
That’s fair. To a point! We also need to take into account the activities that teens engage in, and the technologies that are best for those activities. We can safely say that Facebook and other social networking sites are better than e-mail for keeping up with friends. You can intersperse messaging with browsing, and easily post information to groups.
E-mail, on the other hand, is best in an office environment. It is generally archived, it often integrates with a calendar and possibly a task list, and is fabulous for well thought-out messages that are private or semi-private (though it may seldom be used this way).
Both e-mail and social networking sites are tools. Please consider how those tools are being used before making grand proclamations about them!
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