Social media - Is e mail dead or dying?

O.K. we seem to be on a roll here, so who am I to stop it? First I wrote on social lending, social etiquette, and twitter social media, now let's introduce Dopplr yet another way to keep in touch for frequent travelers with cool applications for bloggers and anyone who just wants to keep track. I was skeptical when Facebook mania first took hold. Did I really want to know what everyone had for breakfast. Well, not everyone... but those special somebodies, yes! I also wanted to know what my colleagues and peers were up to. So, facebook, linked n, twitter, plurk, and before you knew it a whole quiver full of unpronounceable names where in there. Then I blogged live at a tech start-ups in Zurich and discovered Sandbox, Doodle, Wua la, Poken, Yes.com and so many other ways to keep up and transport your contacts wherever you need them. I will in the next few posts, give you the features of each of these. But what does the corporate world think of this?  Here's HP in action The big boys like IBM who need communication to flow between thousands of staff members on different continents. Is e mailing dead or dying? Do they use social media? Somesso The corporate social media conference seeks to answer this question, kicking off in Zurich on 31st October and with dates in London and Barcelona to follow. They hope to captivate the attention of corporate communications experts in this niche market and plan to ignite passion where others have failed in more generic Web2.0 conferences. Their website lists an impressive array of speakers. CEO's and top managers are being encouraged to adopt social media as the medium of choice in communicating internally with their teams. For those who would like to attend, tickets are available on the website up to the day and for those who can't, pod casts and tweets will have to suffice. Have something to say? send a comment. Yours tweetly Wisequeen Donna Jackson Social Communications Specialist

Comments

[Emma Bird]

Hi Donna

Interesting questions.

These days I tend to use emails for biz purposes only. It seems surprisingly formal these days when you can now be in constant contact. And if I'm going to sit down and write to friends rather than Twitter, phone, text, I'd rather it was snail mail.

[Miranda]

I still use email for business purposes and to keep in touch with relatives that are JUST tech-inclined for email but not quite ready for social media.

[AmyEmilia]

I end up using email for most of my contacts - and have tried to train my family to read my blog. I find myself wanting to begin actual writing again - using snail mail! I haven't warmed to Twitter. Communiation ends up being a patchwork of Windows Messenger with a couple of my cousins, blog for general and family communication, Flickr for public posting, and telephone/email for business. I do use Plaxo and LinkedIn for business contact management, but not for communication.

There are too many ways to connect now... I can't keep up with them all.