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Happy 35th birthday, email! New report examines its revolutionary impact

by | Sep 7, 2017 | Public Relations

In celebration of the 35th anniversary of email’s copyright by Dr. V.A. Shiva, new research from AI-based email app Edison Software, fielded online by SurveyMonkey to 1,068 U.S. adults, found that the dominant role of email in everyday lifestyles will not fade anytime soon—current American email volume and connectivity measures at a vigorous pace.

As communicators are aware, even though social media has become so prevalent as a comms channel, email is alive and well as a top marketing strategy for brands and businesses—and remains the leading outreach tool in the battle for consumer engagement.

But as a result of its ubiquity, email has also created issues for Americans and people around the world—mostly in the form of stress.

Americans stressed by email overload

The newly released 2017 State of Email report indicates that 74 percent of Americans feel overwhelmed by the number and frequency of emails they receive. Nearly half (44 percent) of the nation is worried about missing an important email due to email overload. Furthermore, nearly all U.S. adults (87 percent) have taken steps to manage email overload—73 percent said they have unsubscribed from unwanted email, while almost half (44 percent) admitted they have spent hours deleting emails they don’t want.

Surveying email volume shows 32 percent of people receive up to 100 emails per day, and another one-third (33 percent) said they feel stressed when they receive too many emails.

Email connectivity embedded in the American lifestyle

Most of the nation (85 percent) is using a mobile phone to access email—43 percent on iOS and 42 percent on Android—with Americans managing between one and three email accounts. The report reflects how deeply email is embedded within U.S. culture, revealing that Americans now read and respond to important emails in the following places throughout their day:

  • In bed (41 percent)
  • While eating food (39 percent)
  • While on the go (34 percent)
  • In the bathroom (24 percent)
  • While spending time with their significant other (21 percent)

In the workplace, email still beats chat apps like Hangouts and Slack (35 percent vs. 5 percent) for communication between colleagues.

Email is likely to remain a core online tool for many decades to come, but most people today still need help managing it.

The survey was conducted online within the US from August 16-21, 2017 among 1,068 adults ages 18 and older.

Richard Carufel
Richard Carufel is editor of Bulldog Reporter and the Daily ’Dog, one of the web’s leading sources of PR and marketing communications news and opinions. He has been reporting on the PR and communications industry for over 17 years, and has interviewed hundreds of journalists and PR industry leaders. Reach him at richard.carufel@bulldogreporter.com; @BulldogReporter

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