MATT RICHTEL writes in the New York Times:
In an article in Tuesday’s Times, I wrote about the changing status of e-mail. Once it was cool to merely have an e-mail account (or several), but
many young people now think of it as old school, and much prefer the zip
of texting, instant messaging and social networks.
Indeed, a deeper look at the statistics shows just how much personal e-mail use divides along generational lines.
In the last year, time spent using e-mail sites like Yahoo and Hotmail has fallen 48 percent among 12- to 17-year-olds, according to
comScore, a market research firm. The statistics only include time spent
with e-mail on computers, so the decline may be somewhat offset by
teenagers using e-mail on their phones.
Still, the drop for that age group is far sharper than for others. ComScore found a decline of 10 percent in time spent on Web-based email
among 18- to 24-year-olds, about the same as it found for people up to
the age of 54.
But then things change sharply — and start climbing in the other
direction. The research firm found that time spent on e-mail rose 15
percent for people 55 to 64, and was up 17 percent for people 65 and
older.
I don’t view this as a big deal. While younger kids aren’t on e-mail technically they are gchatting and doing other cloud activities. As phones and mobile devices become smarter integrating e-mail better you’ll see the trend reverse I think.
GovDelivery does a lot of work in email, SMS, and social media channels. We are seeing record growth in demand for email updates from government even while the other channels carve out important niches. A lot of channel use is situational rather than age-based, but of course, people of different ages find themselves in different situations (e.g., young people have more informal communication and can be online and available in more real-time).
Let me know what you think of this commentary from our UK director:
Reach The Public: Facebook Messages Kills Email? Think again. http://bit.ly/9VAgTk