Email could die within a decade thanks to Facebook, Twitter, Skype
Email is currently one of the key elements of the Internet. And sending and receiving email is usually one of the first things we learn to do when going online for the first time. But its life could be coming to an end with new research predicting the demise of email within a decade. Its killers? Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and instant messaging apps such as Skype and MSN Live Messenger.
One of the best and worst things about the Internet is its rapidly changing nature. Web site design is evolving all the time, as are Web browsers, online video, file-sharing, and communications methods. Which is great for those in the middle who use the Internet on a daily basis, but terrible for irregular or older users who find themselves and their knowledge bases constantly out-of-date.
One of the elements of the Internet which hasn’t changed much since its invention is email. Even the first spam message was sent over 30 years ago and we’re still getting these unsolicited emails today. However, what is now happening is new methods of communication emerging which make email less of a necessity.
Social networking sites and instant messaging services are becoming increasingly popular and sidelining email as they go. New research carried out by the UK ISP TalkTalk and the University of Kent suggests that communication on the Web is evolving so quickly that email could be seen off in a decade or less. As explained on the TalkTalk Blog:
Email has been the dominant mode of communication over the Internet for the past 20 years, but that doesn’t mean it always will be. Increasingly people want to send quick, short messages reaching many people in one go, and there are now better ways of doing that than via email.
The research shows that while older people do still use email on a regular basis, younger demographics are using it less and less, with Facebook, Twitter, and the like used instead. I can’t see email disappearing altogether in the next ten years but I can definitely see its use dropping significantly.
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November 22nd, 2009
crap. How do I sign up for anything without email. Do you mean I have to join Myspace first to be able to join Facebook. How do I get into Myspace in the first place? what about introverts who don’t want to join online worlds? All this talk of everyone in the world is on there is crap too. there are 6.5 billion of us last i counted (took me all day).