How Valuable is Email?

Photo by CHRISTINA MORGERA

Rebecca Martelotti
Staff Writer

The days of hand writing a letter, buying a postage stamp and mailing it out are long gone. Various forms of communication such as social media networks like Facebook, Skype, texting and other forms of instant contact have transformed the platform of how we communicate. In a soci­ety where Twitter and Facebook are the main forms of communi­cation, is email still relevant?

The myth that email is irrel­evant to the younger generation is simply untrue. Many young people are realizing how impor­tant it is to check their email, and many even have more than one email account.

Social media is often dispos­able due to the various networks that people are members of such as Twitter, Facebook, and Insta­gram. With so many feeds and information posted by countless friends daily, it is hard to target a particular person and have per­sonal contact with them. Unlike various social media networks, email is still semi-private and does not broadcast itself all over the Internet for everyone to “like” and “comment” on.

As a college student, email also plays a role in your educa­tion. Sandra Mardenfeld, Assis­tant Professor and Media Arts/Director of the Journalism Pro­gram at LIU Post said, “I think students should use their LIU email. It only benefits them. Stu­dents receive important deadlines and announcements through the email. I, myself, rarely email stu­dents unless I am canceling class or need to speak to them. Most of my communication is on black­board. However, a student might miss an email from me if they did not check their LIU account.”

When attending college, working and searching for poten­tial internships and jobs, check­ing email and communicating with various industries and pro­fessors is valuable to your future. “I never checked my school or personal email accounts,” said Gabriella Ianiro, a junior Journal­ism major. “But I recently got an internship and have to constantly respond to emails from my boss and professors.” I check my LIU email account daily in order to check updates from clubs and professors. Email is a way for the university to send out mass com­munications to students.

Potoula Anagnostakos, a sophomore Journalism major said, “I use email to communi­cate with my friends, family, and at work. I also use it to receive emails from stores and school.” Businesses still use emails to reach clients, customers and em­ployees. With so many stores hav­ing websites online, I constantly receive emails from stores to learn about new sales and trends. Most fashion brands and ma­jor companies now have online catalogs as opposed to sending catalogs in the mail.

In a world that is purely driven on technology, email plays an immense role in communica­tion. Email is a way to keep in touch with people from all over the world. It can be accessed any­where and anytime. Email is fast, simple, and generates an immedi­ate response.