TalkTalk predicts death of e-mail

TalkTalk has predicted that e-mail will die out in 10 years - at least amongst the younger generation - as users move towards instant messaging and services such as Facebook and Twitter.

Some research they commissioned identified that 51% of Internet users in their teens and early 20s barely use e-mail at all, with that demographic being particularly huge users of Facebook.

Mark Schmid of TalkTalk:

"Email has been the dominant mode of communication over the internet for the past 20 years, but that doesn't mean it always will be. Increasingly people want to send quick, short messages reaching many people in one go, and there are now better ways of doing that than via email. Based on the trends we're seeing now, email could well be on its last legs by the end of the next decade."

Possibly a slightly dramatic statement, but not an unexpected trend given the nature of spam in e-mail also!