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E-mail not dead - yet

 

Audra Mahlong
By Audra Mahlong, senior journalist
Johannesburg, 01 Apr 2009

Despite the growing popularity of social networks in SA, e-mail remains a strong communication tool. While global trends point to a decline in e-mail messaging, analysts say it is still going strong locally.

In March, a report by research firm Nielsen stated social networks and blogs had become more popular than personal e-mail. It also noted messaging via social networking was growing twice as fast as e-mail messaging.

According to World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck, while the growth of social networking sites locally mirrors international trends, e-mail messaging is in "no danger of being eclipsed by social networks".

"It`s not an effective messaging tool," says Goldstuck. He adds that e-mail has been designed primarily for communication, while social networking sites are for networking. This distinction still remains important and their functions do not overlap, he says. He adds that users still turn to e-mail as it doesn`t require log-ins for entry and they are not required to wait for Web sites to load.

Business adoption

As more users adopt social networking sites, companies are reassessing their usage of these networks. A recent survey by Gartner highlights the increasing consideration companies are giving to social networks. The report states companies are looking for ways to incorporate social networking services into business use - as these sites gain popularity.

Locally, Facebook still remains the most popular networking site with over a million local users, says Goldstuck. LinkedIn, which mainly caters for business professionals, has gained in popularity, along with Twitter - which is used primarily for media and marketing locally. Local sites such as Blueworld and My Genius have also shown increases.

Organisations are still failing to provide employees with guidelines on the effective use of communication tools in business environments, the Gartner survey states. The result is a growing number of employees using microblogs - such as Twitter - to manage customer relationships.

According to Gartner, companies should be wary of using Twitter as a corporate blog to promote accomplishments, publish press releases and respond to comments about brands and manager relationships. This form of communication, suggests the research firm, is still better suited to different platforms such as e-mails.

Goldstuck also points to the age dynamics in the use of social networks for primary communication. What we are learning is that it`s mostly the youth market that uses social networking sites as a primary means of communications - while adults still use e-mail as the primary messaging tool, he says.

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