Facebook Taking Over E-Mail?

Sunday, November 14, 2010

In an article this week by founder and CEO of Mashable Pete Cashmore, he touches on the rumored upgrades to Facebook's messages feature.

Apparently Facebook is inviting the media to a special Monday event in which speculation is growing about Facebook unveiling its long rumored changes to its message inbox. This has not been confirmed by Facebook as being the topic of the event but it still has many people guessing.

Cashmore goes on in his article to explain his opinion on if these rumored changes were to be unveiled in the near future, how would they affect current e-mail providers?

Basically Cashmore does not feel they would completely overtake the e-mail industry and he provides some interesting insight as to why at his full column on CNN's website here.

Here is my take on this whole theory. As we all know social media has become huge in recent years and it is virtually consuming our everyday lives. I personally use Facebook and Twitter everyday, I admit that. Social media is everywhere and it seems like people can do anything with it.

So wouldn't it be logical to assume that Facebook could turn itself into not only a social media networking site but a top tier e-mail provider as well?

I really don't think that Facebook could overtake the top e-mail providers. Even though Facebook has over 500 million users, I think people would still tend to keep their accounts with Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, and so on because those are sites strictly setup and geared for e-mail.

Facebook could potentially compete with an enhanced e-mail system due to convenience factors but in reality I do not see them shooting straight to the top of the list. If that were to happen then I think society would seriously have to take a step back and consider how much Facebook impacts their lives.

Granted we sure love our Facebook and the connection it provides for us to our friends and family, but I think there could be a point where there can be too much stuff on Facebook. E-mail should stay a separate entity in my opinion. Facebook is great for staying connected with people and hearing about breaking news but I think that is where the line should be drawn.

If there comes a day when Facebook controls everything in our lives, I may ship myself off to a deserted island. At least that way I wouldn't have to worry about whether I should make myself Facebook's slave or try to maintain some partisanship in my social media and Internet usage.

Photo courtesy of Jay Cameron, Flickr

3 comments:

taramaurer November 16, 2010 at 9:52 AM  

Mark Zuckerberg is trying to say that it isn't about e-mail, but rather messaging. I think at this point they are trying not to scare everyone. If Facebook is going to have its own e-mail address, (@facebook.com) I don't think that Zuckerberg is going to make anyone believe he is not creating an e-mailing system. I think that this change to Facebook will have a huge effect on other e-mailing systems, and I am excited to see what it is actually like.

Paul Salais November 16, 2010 at 5:17 PM  

I agree with Tara.

As explained in this video (http://me.lt/9P00F) they are not simply just trying to make an e-mail, but combine all elements with one another. Elements combined such as text, e-mail, and wall posts. I honestly can't wait to see how this turns out.

Candra Chamberlain November 16, 2010 at 9:07 PM  

Doesn't Facebook already have messaging capabilities? If you are on the site, you get instant updates, can talk to friends, and receive messages from other users. If you have to have an existing e-mail to start an account, will that change with this? Also, will it look as credible on contacts if you put your e-mail down as yourname@facebook.com?

I agree with Jesse that e-mail should stay separate, though I am interested to see what will come out of this.

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