Social Networking Won't Kill Email

Penelope Trunk recently stated that she believes email is on its last leg. Her three reasons were 1) email is inefficient, 2) email's intimacy is overrated, and 3) internet privacy is a thing of the past. I usually avoid disagreements on the direction of technology, because I'm far from an expert. However on this topic, I can't stay quiet. Although I agree that the one to one communication of email makes group messaging a pain, it seems Google Wave will solve that problem. I also agree that email as a tool of intimacy is limited. It's helpful for keeping in touch trivially, but text is rarely a way to improve communication. I also agree that there is too many complaints about online privacy in social networking. This graphic is helpful in showing how Facebook has consistently changed its privacy settings, much to the chagrin of many users. Though I think these changes will hurt Facebook, they don't hurt me. A long time ago I decided to never post anything online that I don't want everyone to read. I'm willing to give up control of my personal information in exchange for a lot free stuff online, but I guess not everyone is.

As much as I agree with Penelope on the problems with email, I don't think we've seen its killer just yet. Even though I don't post things on my Facebook, my blog, my shared bookmarks, or my photo album that I don't want people to see, that is not true for my email. Email is a helpful tool between talking and social networking. It's faster than a telephone and a letter, but more private than a Facebook wall. This is why I disabled my Facebook wall. Sure it confuses people on my birthday, but if someone has something to say to me, message me. There is no reason to clutter others' feeds. It is for this reason I believe email, or some other type of private messaging service, will always exist. Maybe one day texting and email will be there same thing. Or maybe I'm already behind the times. Perhaps internet users only want to interact if they know people are watching. If so, I may have to go all Andy Rooney on the internet.