Social Media vs. E-mail

1. Rumors of e-mail’s demise are greatly exaggerated (and perhaps wishful thinking). For every new “e-mail killer”—text messages, Facebook messages, DMs, IMs, and so on—e-mail remains the one medium we can’t live with and can’t live without. For all its flaws, e-mail remains the killer app.

2. A big reason for this is business. When your boss needs you, he doesn’t text or DM you. He zaps you an e-mail. When you need to contact your team all at once, it’s easier to use a distro list (e.g., writers@ragan.com) than to visit LinkedIn, especially if you’re on a smartphone.

3. Every smartphone user uses e-mail on his device, but not every smartphone user uses social networking apps on his device.

4. If I want to contact you via a social network, the ironic thing is that you’ll typically be notified via e-mail. Ditto for project management software.

5. E-mail remains far more powerful and flexible than the competition. The vast variety of things you can do via e-mail—bold, italicize, and hyperlink text; attach videos; embed pictures; include an e-mail signature; CC and BCC recipients—either aren’t available or aren’t easily executable via social networks.

Addendum: Success!