I said this week that people who proclaim the death of something oftentimes have no clue what they’re talking about and should be ignored on principle.  There were a bunch of twits yesterday on this subject and I also found out a panel idea was submitted to SXSW on it too.  A great debate is in order.  I’ll start it off. 

Studies show that the popularity of email really hasn’t changed that much over time. 

Email

As of December 2007, 72 million American adults reported using the Internet daily and of that, 60% of all Internet users reported using email on a typical day.  To put that in perspective (because, as we know from previous blogs, it’s all about context) here are some comparative stats:

  • 37% report getting news online on a typical day
  • 15% watch a video online at a site like YouTube
  • 7% download music to their computer
  • 6% use online classifieds
  • 4% make travel reservations
  • 3% post a comment or review about a product (source) 

Teenagers are texting!  That must mean email is dead!

So you’re citing the 2005 Pew study for that one.  I’m not sure many people who use the Pew study as evidence for the death of email have actually READ the study because if they had, on page 3 of the 57 page report they would have found this: 

Let’s recap in bullet points: 

  • Teenagers still use email
  • They use it at a higher rate than they use IM/text
  • They acknowledge that they communicate with different groups over different mediums

And there’s nothing wrong with that as long as we are acknowledging what kids are using it for.  I have a theory about geeks that I call the cool kid syndrome (it also can apply to faculty members, but that’s another blog altogether).  Geeks, for the most part, were kids that were picked on in high school by all the dumb jocks and cheerleaders (the cool kids) and they have some residual issues from that. So even decades later, when they are out making money on the web while the dumb jocks and cheerleaders are still living in their small town and have never done anything because they couldn’t get past high school, geeks still want to please people.  They want to be everyone’s friend. They want to be the cool kid. But here’s the rub: YOU’RE NOT THEIR FRIEND AND YOU NEVER WILL BE.  If you are doing email marketing in any form, you are “the man”.  Just accept it and move on.  Actually, in many respects teenagers have a more sophisticated view of this whole thing than most marketers: one medium is for “work” the other is for play.  Try to cross the line and you are invading their personal space.  They WANT you to communicate with them over email.

And even if all teenagers gave up email….SO WHAT?

Two-thirds of adults say they preferred email for communicating with businesses and just as many say they expect to still prefer this method five years from now (source).  Guess what folks: if you’re doing e-mail marketing, you are a business contact. And yes, this also applies to admissions offices who think they are only targeting teenagers because adults (parents) are what?  Say it with me here…..INFLUENCERS.  Anyone who has ever carried a caseload can tell you that it is just as important to get to the parents as it is to the kids, if for no other reason than it is they who are going to be paying the bills. 

But everyone is on Twitter now!

Well, the problem is that not everyone is on Twitter. Twitter has less than 1% of the total user accounts of MySpace and Facebook and it’s current penetration in the US is 0.1%.  A tenth of a percentage point (source) and you’re going to scream that another medium that 60% of all Internet users use on a daily basis is on the decline?!  Really? Hmmmm…<

So what about Facebook then huh?  80 Million users can’t be wrong…

Well, as it turns out, you need to read the fine print here too: 

It’s the same deal as with IM/texting: They use it to maintain CERTAIN relationships but still view email as their medium of choice for “business”. 

“News of my death is greatly exaggerated”

People love to herald the death of things.  It makes them feel important…like they know something that the rest of us just haven’t figured out yet.  But I have this crazy notion that it’s much more important to be accurate with what I say, and to acknowledge nuance as much as I can.  That helps me to be better as a professional.  As much as I feel odd and uncomfort
able about it, the fact is that I have to accept that if I put information out there publicly (which I do) and people read it or hear it (and, shockingly, they do) then it’s probably going to have influence somewhere in the way that someone does business.  So I not only have a responsibility to myself and my employers to have good information, but I also have a responsibility to the people who are listening to me to give them the best information that I can.  I would hope that others who do the same would carry the same burden of responsibility but it seems that oftentimes, they are more interested in having a headline that says the death of yada yada yada. 

Did I miss an argument supporting the death of email?  Leave a comment and I’ll try to field it! (and I already know I did miss at least one argument but I want to keep you guys on your toes)