For years, email has been one of the main forms of communication, but now there are multiple ways to engage friends, family and customers. With technology continuing to take center stage, are people still tethered to traditional email as their default form of communication?
It’s fair to say certain people rely on email to get their bills. As the paperless trend continues to play a huge role in how individuals communicate and receive bills and other communication, the standard email inbox is inundated with overflow, which tends to get out of hand. While it does have a place in society, its longevity becomes questionable in certain areas. Aside from professional reasons, there are a ton of apps and programs – Messenger, Snapchat, Slack, WhatsApp, Skype, Trello, SurveyMonkey, and so on – that reduce the need for email.
Why Do People Still Use Email?
Good question, we’re asking ourselves the same thing! Email is what we know. It’s free, familiar, easily accessible, and gets the job done. In the 21st century, not having an email address is slightly suspicious. But, ask anyone who uses their email account regularly if they feel like they have a handle on their unread messages and there’s a high chance they won’t. Or they may not have any unread messages but will have all of their emails in all of two folders. And then add in promotional emails that haven’t been unsubscribed…it can get chaotic.
Continuing Challenges of Email
As other forms of communication enhance the ability to communicate with other individuals and groups, it’s also causing us to neglect email a little more every week.
- Time Constraints
Keeping up with an inbox full of messages daily takes a lot of time and patience. Most people only use email to receive information, but don’t choose this as their primary form of communication anymore. With texting and real-time apps at play, it’s easy to see how email may be viewed as too archaic.
- Flexibility
Although email is portable, there are faster ways to communicate with employees, clients, family and friends. If you’re trying to quickly gather information, using a real-time app or text group chat could be more beneficial.
So, what’s a solution?
Whether you’re an individual looking to better communicate with family and friends or you’re an educator needing to communicate with staff and families, community engagement apps like Go2s can increase conversation and decrease the likelihood of important messages getting lost in email inboxes.
Is it possible to live without email? Yes. Is it necessary to eliminate it? No, email certainly has its place. However, it’s worth rethinking how email is used as a form of reliable communication.