Do Social Networks and Email Serve the Same Purpose?
March 17th, 2009Author: Nazim Uddin
Or more importantly, are people communicating the same things in social networking websites as they are in email?
Mashable announced last week that social networking is more popular than email. This was based on a recent study conducted by Nielsen Online which ranked “Member Communities” as “the fourth most popular online sector after search, portals and PC software applications” with personal email being ranked fifth on the list.
Arnold Zafra at RotorBlog delves into the reasons for this decline on his post: “Is the Death of Email Upon Us?” According to him, Spam is email’s main problem which, so far, social networking sites lack. Spam is impersonal and violates the purpose of email. I do agree that with him that comparing the two may be a bit unfair. Email has matured over the last couple of decades with all its flaws showing, while social networking has just recently burst onto the scene and still discovering its true potential.
It is worth understanding what each of these channels provide. Emails offer one-to-one communication with a degree of confidentiality not available if posted in a blog or social networking website. Yes, you can set up a distribution list to let everyone know what you are doing right now, but that would probably be the fastest way of alienating your friends and contacts by “spamming” them and filling up their inbox with your life’s minutia. It is impersonal and is best left to Twitter. Likewise, would you want to post something meant for your significant other on your blog for the world to read including friends, family (mom and dad) and strangers? Whatever it is, I don’t want to know it, though I’m sure some might. Communication on social networking is impersonal, just as email is more impersonal compared to postal mail. The channels we use communicate to the receiver the level of importance we give them.
Many of the social networking websites actually recognize this fact. No wonder Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn offer email as one of the services available on their websites. Some are closed systems, but essentially, they recognize the need for that level of privacy and the message it sends to the receiver about the value and importance we place on them over everyone else.
So, is social networking going to make email obsolete? I am not ready to jump on this band wagon. It is far more prudent to view these channels on a spectrum that measures the level of importance/intimacy accorded to the receiver merely from the channel we use to communicate with them. Social networking complements traditional email, just as email complements fax service and traditional postal mail. Unless a new medium is created that exactly replicates the purpose of email, I am afraid, email is here to stay.
Some facts/issues to keep in mind about the Nielsen study:
- Nielsen Online defines “member communities” as both social networking websites and blogging websites. So, these would include popular social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn as well as blogging websites such as Blogger.com and Wordpress.com among many others.
- “The terms ‘Global’ or ‘World’ encompass the following countries . . . USA, Brazil, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Australia. ( . . . Japanese data isn’t included in any global figures.)” Interestingly, China and India are missing from the research, countries that are likely to make up a significant portion of Internet users.
- The study focuses only on “personal email”. Organizational use of email is not included.
- Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, and virtually all the other social networking websites incorporate email as one of the features.
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Tags: email, Facebook, Mashable, Nielsen, Rotorblog, social networks
