Email is dead. Admit it, when was the last time you said, “Hey, let me email you this cool video”. No, you just send it on facebook, or del.icio.us for the more geek inclined.
No, email is more or less a notification system now. To tell us when our Chinese food is getting delivered, or when someone wants to add us as a friend. Just as email was built on top of legacy protocols, facebook is built on top of email. And even still, there are applications built on top of facebook. Do you get this tier-ing concept now?
So, with this new communication standard established, why is it that people continue to invite strangers to random events and applications. The way I treat facebook, is that getting invited to an event on facebook is the equivalent to a phone call, or an IM. And yet people don’t take these things seriously like I do. Am I taking social netoworking too seriously, or is the rest of the community just behind on this one?
2 responses so far ↓
Luke Maciak // Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 10:10 pm |
But Facebook is just a social network. It’s a proprietary walled garden. I don’t think it’s appropriate communication tool.
Email is built on top of open protocols and I’m free to use whatever email client, and whatever server I want. Facebook may have an API, but it is far from being open.
Social networking is nice to connect with people, and stay in the loop with what everyone is up to. It’s great for sharing pictures, organizing events and etc. But if I want to actually have a conversation with someone, I shoot them an email.
After all my email client is way better at keeping track of my conversations. That is it’s primary function, and the private messaging app on facebook will never be as efficient or full featured as Gmail or Thunderbird.
Matthew McCullough // Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 11:29 pm |
Obviously email still has its place in the business and academic world, but just to send a quick message with my friends, I go straight to facebook. At this point I feel an email would be too formal.