I read the article "Should Workplaces Curtail E-Mail?" and thought I'd share it with you.
It's a thought provoking read about the issue of e-mail overload and how it affects our productivity. If you work in or run a business full of people that are wasting too much time on e-mail — it's worth having some real-time conversations about this issue. Real-time communication options like IM, Video, Texting (and telephone "old-school") have many advantages over e-mail for communicating with each other.
It's time for us to start letting go of e-mail, it was just a stepping-stone to something else — Just like the 8 track, the cassette tape, the CD. They've all had their glory days.
Many e-mails go unanswered and responded to — and it looks like social and real-time communications like phone calls, IM, Skype, and texting are just about ready to take over the reigns as the new best way to communicate.
I won't be sad to see e-mail go away. Add up how much time you spend every morning deleting e-mail and figure out how many days a year you spend just doing that — it's a bit of a shock.
However, before all this goes down — we need a good solution for accessing old conversations and information.
How about contextual keyword searchable video, IM, texts all in one spot? Goolge vs. Facebook? As the guys at ESPN would say "c'mon man" lets get that one done and we can get rid of e-mail as a medium for communicating.
Just to be clear: I don't think e-mail will just disappear, just like snail mail hasn't gone away, it will just be used for documenting things (such as confirmation of travel or receipts for online shopping) until a better solution for documenting and archiving real-time communications is invented.
About jonathangood
Jonathan Good is CEO and founder of HelloSocialMedia.com, a social-media marketing agency that focuses on the creation and execution of social media strategies, including blogging, social applications and community development.
He helps businesses, organizations and individuals generate leads, create more awareness and buzz, increase ROI and have a positive impact on the bottom line by integrating social media into their marketing, branding and PR efforts. Jonathan is a recognized leader in social media, PR, branding, marketing, advertising, graphic design, Web development and interactive technology. In March 2008, OC METRO magazine featured Jonathan in its cover story called, “Working the Net: Social- and professional-networking sites help foster connections with hundreds of potential business clients. How many mixers would it take to do that?”
Additionally, Jonathan serves as the vice president of marketing for Greenwala.com, directing the brand development, community building and strategic partnerships to further the company’s mission. Greenwala is the first social network and media company to unite consumers who are committed to living a sustainable lifestyle with brands that align with their values. He is cited as an evangelist who advocates the value of social networking as a powerful tool to create community and encourage stewardship of the environment.
Jonathan also co-founded WunderMarx|PR™, a social media, branding and public relations agency. Since 2002, WunderMarx|PR has grown into one of the top four public relations agencies in Orange County, Calif. WunderMarx|PR was one of the first independent agencies in Orange County to add podcasting and blogging to its list of services and dovetail social media marketing strategies with mainstream media strategies for its roster of technology, advocacy and nonprofit clients. In addition, Jonathan created and launched dezumo.com in 2007. Dezumo is a social networking community for creative people, such as artists, writers, graphic designers, photographers and musicians.
Before launching WunderMarx|PR, he directed brand management, Web, creative and communications at two publicly traded semiconductor companies. Jonathan amassed in-depth experience with corporate spin offs, IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, internal communications, branding, corporate marketing, technical writing, and Web site strategy, marketing and management.
Jonathan has served as president of the Orange County chapter’s of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) as well as AIGA, the Professional Association for Design.