Email is the New Snail Mail

Posted on July 20, 2006

For the young, email is a big bore, associated only with authority and school. The younger generation uses text messaging when they want to communicate with someone interesting; email is reserved for parents and teachers.

An article from the AP and The Spokesman-Review says email is "losing clout."

Much like home postal boxes have become receptacles for junk mail, bills and the occasional greeting card, electronic mailboxes have become cluttered with spam. That makes them a pain to weed through, and the problem is only expected to worsen as some e-mail providers allow online marketers to bypass spam filters for a fee. Beyond that, e-mail has become most associated with school and work.

It is never good when a medium becomes associated with school work or old people.

Rachel Quizon from Norwalk, Calif is quoted as saying, "In this world of instant gratification, e-mail has become the new snail mail."

Email isn't going away, apparently, it's just become the older, more formal type of writing. So, let's get this straight. If email is now the antiquated, formal way of writing, then texting is the language of choice for generations to come. The fact that most people over the age of 30 can't decipher the average teen's text messages is clearly part of the appeal.

Too bad for teens (and fortunately for parents), there's a handy English - Text translater for free at Transl8it.com. And if you want a teenager to read your words you should probably text them. They might ignore your antiquated email.