Teens say email is like, so, last week

Filed under: News, E-mail, Social Software

Teens say email is like, so, last week

by Grant Robertson Jul 19th 2007

Email seems like the safest -- in terms of durability and longevity -- internet application that could possibly be conceived. It's simple, it works, and aside from the problems with spam, it's pretty foolproof. Not so fast Mr. Assumption, teens in large numbers say that email just isn't cool, and that social networks are providing more reliable and easier communication than the old standard.

Cnet reports on a panel discussion at Mashup 2007 that sheds some light on the issue. According to one teen pannelist, podcaster Martina Butler, "I need (Facebook) everywhere I go, but I log into e-mail only once a week."

Not to sound out of touch but, what the heck happened? Facebook is useful, but how can anyone live without checking their email daily? Even hourly? Those kids today...

Tags: email, facebook, myspace, social networking, SocialNetworking, teen

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Keith Kamisugi said 11:55PM on 7-19-2007

My guess: those "kids" who favor social network messaging over email feel that old-school email doesn't merit regular management. If it's not a message from one of their friends on facebook (which they would get on said service), then it can't be that important.

robot rock said 12:03AM on 7-20-2007

Facebook users remind me a LOT of AOL users 10 years ago.

Damage said 12:18AM on 7-20-2007

That's because these kids aren't gainfully employeed in the corporate world... If they were, then they can't work without e-mail.

Pretty obvious if you axe me.

audiodrumm said 1:57AM on 7-20-2007

That, and for the most part, Teenagers are retarded...

but seriously as poster #3 said, when they get into a position where they have to use email in order to do their job, they'll understand the value in it.

Aaron Walker said 2:24AM on 7-20-2007

Eh, just kids following every social whim or what a group of their friends label "cool" for the moment.

Remember? Last year it was Myspace, no self respecting teen could live without it. This year it is Facebook, next year, it will be something else. The list will go on and on as they all want to fit in and be "popular."

I am so glad I made it out of my teenage years with at least half a brain cell still functioning.

Scott Biddle said 8:30AM on 7-20-2007

I'm 16 and I check my e-mail compulsively. I only use Facebook b/c that's where my friends are most reliably contacted.

melloncollie said 8:43AM on 7-20-2007

@5:
Don't automatically assume that all teenagers are like that. I just turned 18, have a corporate job (I'm interning at an architectural firm), and have never used myspace, etc. Not all of us want to be cool and popular. Some could care less. I sure don't, I'm just glad I've a nice paying job and I'm gaining real-world experience within a career field I'd like to be a part of at my age.

iamhoff said 12:10PM on 7-20-2007

Get those damn kids off my lawn!

julian said 12:34PM on 7-20-2007

eh
i kind of understand since i went to highschool a few years ago.
however, now that i have a job, internships, classes, clubs and all the stuff that comes after highschool i found the real value of email.
cant live without it!

james 42 said 1:45PM on 7-20-2007

My son swears all that internet stuff is dead, he only uses the phone. I can't even get him to try email, he just looks at it blankly. All his friends are the same way. They all say you can't beat the interactive features of a phone.

Course, he's only two...

James said 3:49PM on 7-20-2007

WTF is Facebook?

I'm serious, I'm only in my late twenties and while I've heard the term quite a bit (not least of all here on DLS), I had to go look up the WP entry on it, and I'm still not sure I get the idea.

I guess you have a profile page that talks about you, and maybe aggregates stuff about you from other sources? That sounds like a terrible idea -- the last thing I want is to make it easier for random strangers to find out personal things about me. I don't think I'll ever understand "social networking".

p-diddy said 5:36PM on 7-20-2007

James, the one thing Facebook does right that MySpace didn't is that only your friends can see your profile - someone has to be added before they can even see a full size picture of you. Now giant conglomerate corporations having access to your personal info because they sell advertising on Facebook... that's another matter.

iclavdivs said 1:26AM on 7-21-2007

Let's see...im 16 and i check my e-mail about...once or twice a week while i check my facebook about every day. Now, why that's the way it is is that facebook is a great way to keep up with friends from out of state/town or ones that you just can't see very often because of inconviences. You can search their real name(no need to take down clunky archaic e-mail address), keep up w/ them via pictures and get to know them better than w/ simply an e-mail. Does simply your e address let your friends know what youre musical/movie/everything tastes are without you actively telling them. E-mail has a point, but facebook is a simple way to keep up w/ ppl you met at summer camp and other places.

element4life3 said 10:03PM on 7-21-2007

I'm 19, and just started this whole "social networking" thing last September with Facebook. I never have had a Myspace account, and never plan on getting one. I do not have the patience to deal with all of those whiny middle schoolers, highs schooler and sexual predators that Myspace seems to be plagued with, and would prefer only talk to to my old high school buddies and college friends.

As for e-mail, I will admit I rarely ever checked it while in middle school and high school, but once I started college, it was essential to check it at least once (more like 5 times a day for me) to be able to keep track of what is going on. E-mail became essential to keep in touch with my professors, receive/turn in homework assignments, and getting an overall awareness of what is going on around campus.

What I am trying to say is, e-mail may be on the decline for teenagers, but once they get into college, they will see the true use of it and learn how essential it really is. And ditto on what some above posters have stated, that once in a profession, e-mail becomes a staple that one cannot live without. I cannot see e-mail subscribers declining any time soon because of these reasons, and teenagers just need to mature enough and get out in the real world to fully understand the importance of e-mailing.

Donnie said 1:41PM on 7-25-2007

Okay, I'm all for Facebook and even MySpace(don't kill me) but i can live without them for a lot longer than i can without email. I check my email every few minutes. After all, it's how i know if i got a message on MySpace or Facebook.

Sanija said 12:42AM on 10-14-2007

First of all, I honestly don't know why any of you "mature" adults are whining about teenagers. I am only fifteen years old and I realize that the majority of things you people say are both pathetic and untrue. I don't know any adults who go around complaining and insulting kids like you do, which to be honest doesn't make you that big of a person in anyones eyes, I'm sure. Most kids don't use Facebook for popularity reasons. First of all, how does it make you popular at all? You become popular from being in school and socializing with everyone, or socializing with the kids in your neighborhood, not by making an account on the internet where you'll only talk to people you do know, let alone add people you know. People don't make Facebook because it's "cool". At least, not as many as you make it out. Is it so hard to believe people ENJOY Facebook? Even adults. Let us not forget us teens aren't the only ones using websites like Facebook and not e-mail. Does e-mail allow you to have pictures or share with your friends, etc. things that you enjoy? No. Instead, in e-mail, you have to type all that bullshit out eventually to every person you talk to via e-mail, unlike Facebook where it's always there 24/7 for people to read. Kids do it because it's a funner way to connect through the internet rather than just plain e-mail accounts like hotmail. If they didn't like it, they wouldn't do it. I know plenty of people who don't like it and don't use it, and they're popular kids. Myspace and Facebook have nothign to do with being cool and popular. Why do adults use it? Hmm. Not because they want to be cool and popular. So please shut up, don't breed (we don't need more people with your "genes") and worry about your jobs. =) Thanks.

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