Email is Not Dead. Nice Try Facebook

Ok, everyone. Calm down. E-mail is not dead. We've seen ideas like this before that were supposed to revolutionize the way we communicate (i.e. Google Wave, Google Voice. NOTE: these are all Google Flops). Yes, Facebook is the end all be all of social networks. The introduction of "f-mail," for those of you not in the loop this is Facebook "e-mail," is Mark Zuckerberg's evil plan to become the "King of the Internet" and challenge the behemoth that is Google. See the recent launch of Facebook Places and even more recently the incorporation of Deals in order to edge over competition from FourSquare.

In my opinion while F-mail will undoubtedly become hugely popular among Facebook users and social media savy types, but color me old school, I do not believe that e-mail is going to become extinct. While you do not need a Facebook account to use f-mail, I know many people that just refuse to have anything to do with Facebook. The "social inbox" as Facebook is calling it belongs only to friends and not to your bank, mass e-newsletters, etc. While this is a great feature, I love the excitement I feel whenever I long into my gmail account and discover what is awaiting. Will it be a business email, a personal anecdote, or the latest Groupon? If I am not alone in the world here, this is a major reason why the e-mail account is here to stay.

My point is that when Facebook chat launched, AIM and iChat did not disappear. People still use these to communicate among the office or at work and socially. Most professional environments block personal Facebook use. Meanwhile there is no way to block your work e-mail. While I do admit that yes I will probably use f-mail, my g-mail account is here to stay. 

In my opinion while F-mail will become hugely popular among the younger demographic and social media world, it will not replace e-mail. E-mail is just too ingrained in the professional world. E-mail will not go way of the fax machine and a good old stamp letter, because f-mail is just not that different.