Social Media Replacing E-Mail?

Social media has its place, but does that place include replacing our most beloved forms of digital communication: e-mail?

1. Never underestimate the power of the hand-written note or letter. Test this in your work place.  Put up a memo in your office, and write something in your own handwriting in red that says, “the power of the hand-written note reaches more people than a typed letter with the most impressive grammar.”  I promise they will glance down at the bottom to read the handwriting before the read the first word of the memo. They’ll get the point.

2. Nearly all sites on the web that require registration require an email address. Some are starting to integrate social media into this process (such as Facebook Connect), but that is still a very small fraction, and they typically still allow for email information as well.

3. Email notifies you of updates from all social networks you are a part of. Some people turn this feature off, but I particularly like it. I believe one of the forces of social media is that it is uniquely designed to come to you, the user. If I didn’t get a notification from Facebook in my e-mail, I wouldn’t get on Facebook on my iPhone at the stoplight. Facebook is an excellent tool to network with other professionals and friends, but it can eat up time in a busy schedule. I don’t see the merit in spending time on it unless I am directly connecting with someone in my network. But that’s just me. I like it to come to me (via email).

4. What about e-mail marketing? Hey, if I’m gonna get mail from someone I have no interest in, I’d rather get it digitally so I can just delete it. Better for the environment! Plus, we’ve achieved pretty good results with e-mail marketing. It is a very viable way to communicate to a busy audience, and it does generate leads and sales. People gotta have e-mail for this!

5. Email is universal, and social networks are not. Nearly everybody on the web (while there are no doubt some exceptions) has an email address. Many places of employment give employees email addresses when they begin working there. Meanwhile, a great deal of these companies are banning workers from even accessing social networks.

6. There are plenty of people who have no interest in joining social networks. Frequent news stories about security, privacy, and reputation issues do not help convince them.

7. Email is still improving. It hasn’t screeched to a halt with the rise of social media. There is still innovation going on, and integration with social media. Look at how Google is constantly adding new features to Gmail. Look at the new Yahoo Mail.

8. Even social networks themselves recognize the importance of email. Never mind that they update users about community-driven happenings via email. MySpace (still one of the biggest social networks) even launched its own email service recently.

9. More social media use means more email use. Look at these recent findings from Nielsen. The people consuming the largest amount of social media are also the people consuming the largest amount of email.

10. As far as marketing is concerned, email is doing pretty well, as many companies continue to struggle to find the right social media strategy to suit their needs.

You’ll have to decide for yourself, but in the world that we live in, a short pencil is better than a long memory.  There are so many moving parts to how we communicate and perform our duties behind our desks, etc., that having a record of the conversations that you have with clients, coworkers, and friends is invaluable – especially when it can fit in your pocket on your mobile device. Which I hope is an iPhone or I honestly don’t see how you sleep at night. 🙂