Viva la Email!

We live in the age of Facebook, and sometimes I question whether that’s really a good thing.

Now I’m personally on the pro-Facebook side of things, much like the rest of my generation. I know a few people – generally older than I am – who see Facebook as just a waste of time, and certainly it can be a time-sink. However, I feel like Facebook and other social networks provide a powerful way to connect and keep track of what your friends are doing. That said, it certainly has it’s fair share of evils – and I’m not even talking about potential privacy issues.

Facebook has effectively killed email for my generation.

There was a time when I would frequently get emails from my friends. I’d get sent an article they thought I’d find interesting or maybe they’d email me because I wasn’t answering my phone. Whatever the reason, it was fun to receive email from friends and family. These days, however, that is a rare occurrence. Facebook has supplanted email for article sharing or sending a quick “hello” to your friends, and I understand why: Facebook makes it really easy to connect and communicate with friends. I have over 100 friends on Facebook, but I probably only have email addresses (or phone numbers, for that matter) for two dozen people, usually my closest friends and family members. Instead of being a communication center, my email has become a repository for online receipts and newsletters.

I’d really love to use my email account as it was intended, but it’s really difficult when everyone you know communicates almost exclusively through Facebook. I’m currently trying to form a group – a coalition of the willing, if you will – with the goal of reviving email for my generation, but so far it only has one other member.

Does anyone else bemoan this development?