Against pronouncing email, blogs “dead”

October 23rd, 2009 by Andrew Swenson in snark
Are email and blogs really dead?

Social Media Killed the Blog Star?

To get straight to the point, I believe email and blogs are not dead, and I’m tired of the countless articles that say they are.

Oh sure, it’s easy to jump on the email/blogging-is-dead bandwagon, but declaring these modes of communication as dead doesn’t accomplish much. Those who are ready to pronounce the death of email and blogging often justify their arguments in one of two ways: (1) with anecdotal speculation, or with (2) a bogus game of semantics.

Both of these arguments aren’t particularly helpful, and here’s why:

The Speculative Argument

Take for example this post on PC Mag by the respected tech brain John C Dvorak which claims, “E-mail, once the most effective way to communicate with your tech-savvy associates, has become useless.” Dvorak lists nine reasons that email is dead—among those listed are are issues of spam, the inability to see if a message was actually delivered, and competition from closed systems like IM.

Sure email may be a pain in derriere when there are more efficient means of communication at our fingertips, but it doesn’t follow that email is useless. Data backs me up here. A recent study by the Participatory Marketing Network showed that Gen Y would rather give up talking on the phone and using social networks than the use of email. (via Mashable). In addition, Nielson recently found that social media use actually increases email use.

Data clearly shows that the generation entering the workplace values email more than phone or social network communication. With that in mind, it’s tough to pronounce email as dead. With solid data, I argue that we can see the question isn’t “is email dead or alive?” but instead, “how is email use evolving?”

The Semantic Argument

In response to yesterday’s annual “State of the Blogosphere” (via Technorati), Fast Company’s Kit Eaton wrote that “blogging” as we know it is “dead” and that we need to “rethink the definition of blogging.” Eaton writes:

Let’s redefine what blogging means. If you’re writing self-absorbed or inexpert opinions about the minutiae of daily life, without hyperlinks, fact checks or any pretence at engaging with the news, you’re a blogger. [...] But if you’re a writer for an online publication, one that takes real-time stories, updates them as events unfold, reference your quoted facts, break stories and produce original writing then shall we just say you’re a journalist? An online one, but a journalist all the same.

Whether he means to or not, Eaton establishes two black-and-white categories: blogger and journalist, assigning strict definitions to each. It doesn’t allow for the flexibility for (semantic) overlap that might cause us to erase the traditional boundaries of “blogging” and “jounalism.”  Instead, it only entrenches the dichotomy between the elite “journalist” and the common “blogger.”

Really, his argument deconstructs to a game of names. And when you’re playing the that game, it’s easy to pronounce something as dead simply because you’ve defined it out of existence.

So what do you think? Let’s talk about it. Please leave your comments.

-Andrew

photo credit: TexasTiger on stock.xchng (pre-edited image)

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  • Kit Eaton
    Interesting, Andrew! Indeed my piece does draw lines in the sand around the terms "blogger" and "journo" but the *main thrust* of the piece was to note that the golden age of blogging is *ahead*. My word games were specifically directed at the snooty opinion that journos are better than bloggers (for some definition of better)...when in fact many online "bloggers" are writing what is "journalism."
  • Against pronouncing email, blogs “dead” ~ http://bit.ly/3xFOaM


    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • Bradford Shimp
    I think some of these articles are just designed to draw attention. Blogging and email are certainly not dead, and when they are no one will be flaking about it.
  • A great observation. I was talking to a colleague about this yesterday, and my theory is that all of the hype about email being dead is created by people who live in their own email-less, blog-less world, or by those who want to stir the pot (and thus draw attention).

    I guess I haven't found a satisfactory argument that supports the death of email/blogs, and I wanted to point out how many are falling short.

    Thanks for your comment Brad.

    -Andrew
  • I’m tired of everyone saying that email and blogs are dead. http://bit.ly/YzZKD


    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • I know in my work place, instant messaging use is increasing. For short, sharp questions or conversations it is definately more efficient than email. But email still definately has a place.
    To send large pieces of perhaps complex information.
    Out of timezone communication.
    The ability to 'CC'
    .-= Anthony´s last blog ..Right vs Wrong vs Different =-.
  • I would say the same is true of my workplace. There are many times when I need an answer from a co-worker before I can move forward with a project, and the immediacy of IM is convenient.

    But you're right about why email still has a place (complexity, timezone, and cc). To that I'll add formality, evidence of transfer (see, it's in my sent box...), and the fact that sometimes, I don't want an immediate response...

    Thanks for commenting.

    -Andrew
  • Amen, brutha. RT@wordpost Against pronouncing email, blogs “dead” http://bit.ly/2hh8rP


    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • I’m against pronouncing email and blogs as “dead” – http://bit.ly/YzZKD


    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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