Assessment 3: Essay

Is e-mail dead to today’s generation?

E-mail is a method of sending electronic messages and files across a network or the internet (CAN SA Inc, 2008). It is an easy, convenient and cheap means by which we can communicate on a daily basis to people from all over the world. It's a handy tool for businesses, students, teachers and professionals to use in order to send information to one another. It is cheaper and faster than a letter, less intrusive than a phone call and less hassle than a fax. E-mail, compared to these other forms of communication, is effortless - at the click of a 'send' button you have given someone instant information. Sometimes this person may be on the other side of the world, or sometimes this person could be sitting at an office desk right across from you. What’s not to love about e-mail?

The rise in popularity of social networking sites and mobile phones in the past few years, however, has seen the decline in e-mail usage, particularly amongst the younger generations. Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook allow users to set up unique profiles which contain information about the user’s general interests, upload and share photos, write blogs and view or comment other member’s profiles. MySpace is the most trafficked website in the U.S (LeClaire, 2006). 68 million unique users logged on to MySpace in the last month and rival networking site, Facebook, encountered 26 million (Atal, 2007, para 2.) Although e-mail is still essential for businesses and the like, when it comes to instant communication and the generation of today, e-mail is definitely on the downfall.

The earliest and crudest form of e-mail began in 1968 when Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) was hired by the United States Defense Department to create something called the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). The purpose of ARPANET was to create a way for the military and education centers to communicate. In 1971, Ray Tomlinson of ARPANET made history when he sent the world’s first electronic message. Tomlinson sent the simple message by changing an existing internal mail program and linking it to a new network (Kolberg, 2004, para 2). After these years, e-mail took off and according to Kolberg, by 1994 more than 10,000 people used the system throughout the world. These days many of us can’t imagine life without this useful electronic tool.

However, as e-mails multiply, so do the problems. One of the major dilemmas with e-mail usage is the increase of spam and viruses. Spam emails are a type of 'electronic junk mail' and can sometimes be related to illegal activity. Mention the word spam to any e-mail user, and you will often get a reply that somewhat resembles the growl of a caveman. This annoying plague of unwanted junk e-mail not only clutters up mail servers, devours bandwidth and infects personal inboxes, it often carries with it viruses or spyware that put corporate security and businesses at risk. Lynn Greiner found that “the worldwide market for anti-spam products will hit $US1.7 billion by 2008, up from $300 million in 2003, achieving a 42 per cent compound annual growth rate. According to Ferris Research, up to 500 million seats of anti-spam software will be installed in 2008” (Grenier, 2006, para 1).

If the issue of spam was to be resolved, it would make the experience of e-mail a much smoother and easier task for everyone. Nonetheless, social networking sites are still a popular method of interaction amongst today’s generation, and it’s safe to say that this form of communication will only continue to rise with more and more teenagers and kids being exposed to the internet at such a young age. Compared to the basic options of hotmail, a free e-mail host on the web, MySpace and Facebook allows users to get creative with their personal profile and gives the user a sense of uniqueness and identity. "Your page is like your personality," Edwards, 17, says (2006, Kornblum). With MySpace, you can view photos of the person you are communicating with, listen to the latest music, see who is online at the time, view regular user status updates and even track down old friends. There is also the option of making your profile private, which assists with the issues of cyber bullying, stalking and pedophilia. In these ways, social networking sites offer their users a more personal, secure and enjoyable experience.

Although many think of MySpace and Facebook as an online socialising hub for teenagers, Beth Bulick found that “grown-ups are using the social-networking behemoth in ever-increasing numbers for networking, marketing and trend watching. Today more than 22 million adults aged 35 and older use MySpace, and more than 60% of unique visitors are older than 25” (Bulick, 2006, para 2). She also found that small business owners are taking advantage of this online phenomenon to promote and sell their products. Artists, bands, fashion designers, restaurants, and popular nightclubs are just some of the groups that are flourishing through the use of online social networking. However, Jupiter Research analyst David Card said while he believes MySpace has good ideas and a great audience, adult use of the site is uncertain. “MySpace is most useful if you're a heavy user, and for most adults who have a job, that's not really possible” (Bulick, 2006, para 5)

'E-mail is, like, soooo dead' is one of the headlines on News.com, where an article looks at youth attitudes towards communication mediums. "If I'm talking to any friends it's through a social network," said Asheem Badshah, a teenage president of Scriptovia.com, which is an essay sharing site. "For me even IM died, and was replaced by text messaging. Facebook will replace e-mail for communicating with certain people” (Olsen, 2007). Never before in the history of mankind has it been easier to reach out to people from all over the world. Sites such as MySpace and Facebook encourage members to set up personal profiles that suit their personalities so that they may be linked together through networks of friends.

“E-mail was a big advance two decades ago. E-mail made it possible to notify tens of thousands of students, employees or members of any large group in a fast, standardized way. It replaced the unreliable mailroom with technology that IT controlled” (Hayes, 2007). With the rise in popularity of social networking sites and other means of communication amongst today’s generation, will the world see the complete death of e-mail? Probably not, but it’s certainly not looking too healthy.





Reference List

Cansa INC. (2008). Resources, Research and Reading, Glossary of Recources. www.ccd.net/resources/guide/glosary/glossary1.html

LeClaire, J. (2006). Technology News. MySpace named most trafficked US website.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/51754.html

Atal, M. (2007). Business Week Online. MySpace, Facebook: A Tale of Two Cultures. p15-15,

Kolberg, V. (2004) Special K. History of e-mail. http://blogs.setonhill.edu/VanessaKolberg/004403.html

Grenier, L. (2006) Computing Canada. Enemy, thy name is spam. pg. 12

Kornblum, J. (2006) USATODAY. Teens hang out at myspace.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-01-08-myspace-teens_x.htm

Bulick, B (2006) Advertising Age. The man moves in on MySpace. pg. 9

Kirkpatrick, D (2007) Fortune. Myspace strikes back. pg. 128

Olsen, S. (2007) CNET News. Kids say e-mail is, like, soooo dead.
http://news.cnet.com/2009-1032_3-6197242.html

Hayes, F. (2007) Computerworld. E-mail failed. Pg. 34

Plan/Outline for my Essay

Topic covered in Lecture 2: Is e-mail dead?
I'm going to be focusing more on the side of today's generation and all the new types of media and communication available today that is more popular/efficient/effective than e-mail.

Introduction:
- Start with a quote in relation to the topic
- Introduce the topic I am writing about
- Raise some of the points that I will be writing about and discussing throughout the essay
- Perhaps ask a rhetorical question that will flow on to the next paragraph

Paragraph 1:
Go into detail about the history of e-mail.
-What year did it take off? Perhaps go into history of the internet and how long it took for e-mail to be introduced
- How long have I been using e-mail for?

Paragraph 2:
The convenience of e-mail for things such as:
- Businesses, personal reasons, job applications, cheap, easy to use, fairly instant.
- What do I use e-mail for?

Paragraph 3:
Problems with e-mail and some disadvantages
- Spam
- Viruses
- Cyber bullying, etc

Paragraph 4:
Other forms of convenient communication such as:
- Myspace
- Facebook
- SMS
- The popularity of these new forms of communication with the generation of today.

Conclusion
- Some up all my main points
- Draw a strong conclusion
- Possibly finish with a quote or something relatively interesting.

Websites:
http://www.360east.com/?p=196

http://email.about.com/cs/spamgeneral/a/email_is_dead.htm

http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2008/05/01/i-email-dead/
Journals:
http://proquest.umi.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/pqdweb?index=5&did=1041499351&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1210260834&clientId=13713

http://proquest.umi.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/pqdweb?index=41&did=1005209181&SrchMode=1&sid=4&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1210261214&clientId=13713