Email is "old fashioned"?

Korea, which is possibly the most technologically advanced society in the world, is seeing a significant drop in email usage among the younger generation.

It seems that SMS, instant messenger (IM), and blogs (called "one man media" in the linked article) are the favored forms of communication.

The synchronous nature of SMS and IM are preferred because, according to the article:

"The new generation hate agonizing and waiting and tend to express their feelings immediately," said Professor Lee. "The decline of email is a natural outcome reflecting such characteristics of the new generation."

This is not particular to Korea.  I see it in my own kids.  They prefer IM and SMS over email by a long shot. 

It's an interesting trend and one to keep a watch on.

Comments

[IP Dispassionately]

Although many people view them as distinct, there's really very little difference between email and IM - save that the former is an open network, while the latter is closed.

Interestingly, it is the closed network which allows it to be more immediate, and therefore preferable - but there is no way it would have caught on to the extent it did without email and the web leading consumers into technology.

The worst part about all this is you'd be hard pressed to find any opportunity in IM - network effects (the closed network again) keep AOL, Yahoo and MSN in place while preventing groups like Jabber from gaining any real traction. Any new player will have to offer a significant advantage - better products, better services - to capture any market share.

[Dragos]

I'd say it's just a phase thing closely related to the age segment - in a professional business environment email still is the most professional tool. I use IM and Skype daily with my clients and/or employees - it is very useful and efficient, still at the end of the day an email stating point by point the conclusions formalises things nicely. And not in an old fashion. :)

[Douglass Turner]

Horses for courses.

I'm no kid but I routinely SMS my biz partner across the globe when we need rapid fire interaction.

For dialogs requiring more thought and that are less time critical we live on gmail.

It's not either/or, it's both/and.

-Douglass