Facebook As An Email Alternative

Over the past few weeks I have started using Facebook more and more as my primary method of keeping in touch with people. Additionally, as I mentioned last month I have been increasingly using Facebook as a resource for adding my professional contacts. While my correspondence on Facebook is primarily discussions with Facebook developers I have also been having professional correspondence as well as communication with my friends. Previously, when I wanted to get in touch with a friend that I hadn’t spoken with in a while I would shoot them an email. Now all of a sudden, since I know that they are probably browsing around Facebook, I just send them a message on there. It is equally effective and often times they respond even quicker. I think that perhaps Facebook will slowly become the place where I do most of my communication with friends and email will be used for my less close contacts. Jeremiah Owyang commented on this today. His younger sister says that she “only uses email to communicate with old people.” Bottom line, Facebook messaging has become a more effective way of communicating with people on a daily basis. Additionally, they have a great way of threading conversations just like Gmail does. Have you had the same experience of using Facebook as an alternative to email messages?

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25819 CommentsFacebook+As+An+Email+Alternative2007-07-15+19%3A02%3A18Nick+O%27Neill »

Also… no spam!

Comment by ajajaja — July 15, 2007 @ 1:13 pm
I wouldn't dream of sending one of my friends an email now that they're all on Facebook. I do, however, have to communicate with older generations through email. I don't expect this to last for much longer though – Facebook is simply far more efficient. Why would you want to communicate through a medium that completely isolates each communication transaction? Facebook ties it all into one place, and makes communication relevant to all the important data that exists in your social network, i.e. videos, images, and audio.

Comment by N.Cauldwell — July 15, 2007 @ 1:15 pm
I wouldn't dream of sending one of my friends an email now that they're all on Facebook. I do, however, have to communicate with older generations through email. I don't expect this to last for much longer though – Facebook is simply far more efficient. Why would you want to communicate through a medium that completely isolates each communication transaction? Facebook ties it all into one place, and makes communication relevant to all the important data that exists in your social network, i.e. videos, images, and audio.

Comment by N.Cauldwell — July 15, 2007 @ 2:15 pm
I get far more traction out of my e-mail reader than Facebook. I can reply easily, I can organize in different folders, and I can delete items from my in box and my sent box independently without having deletion in one place delete everywhere. I can subscribe to e-mail lists from anywhere (not within Facebook) and have an archive of the clippings that matter to me in my e-mail folders. I also can use desktop search on my e-mail folders, something I use a lot.Of course, I'm one of those older people. Facebooks "all in one place" strikes me as an illusion.

Comment by orcmid — July 15, 2007 @ 4:38 pm
I get far more traction out of my e-mail reader than Facebook. I can reply easily, I can organize in different folders, and I can delete items from my in box and my sent box independently without having deletion in one place delete everywhere. I can subscribe to e-mail lists from anywhere (not within Facebook) and have an archive of the clippings that matter to me in my e-mail folders. I also can use desktop search on my e-mail folders, something I use a lot.

Of course, I'm one of those older people. Facebooks "all in one place" strikes me as an illusion.

Comment by orcmid — July 15, 2007 @ 5:38 pm
Also… no spam!

Comment by ajajaja — July 15, 2007 @ 5:13 pm
people who use gmail tend to use gmail each other. ironically, social network messaging does not do cc and bcc, which are important social qualifiers. and email is probably easier on the blackberry or mogul than accessing fb messages.

Comment by Minger — July 15, 2007 @ 8:30 pm
"email is probably easier on the blackberry or mogul than accessing fb messages"I use Facebook's mobile website all the time from my Motorola Q smartphone: http://m.facebook.com. It's not quite as easy as email, but I wouldn't describe it as painful.

Comment by Branton — July 15, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
"email is probably easier on the blackberry or mogul than accessing fb messages"

I use Facebook's mobile website all the time from my Motorola Q smartphone: http://m.facebook.com. It's not quite as easy as email, but I wouldn't describe it as painful.

Comment by Branton — July 15, 2007 @ 11:15 pm
Yeah, I've been thinking about Facebook's email alternative for a while now. Right now, they're are two things standing in the way of Facebook's Inbox really going wildfire as an email alternative… #1. The app isn't ready. It needs to be as full-featured as, say, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or Gmail. #2. Not everyone is on it.Those are both easily surmountable, though. #1 is easily achievable with Facebook's engineering team (or, if they get bought out by someone else who already has an email app.) #2 is already underway. They'll soon hit 50 million people. Somewhere in that range is likely the tipping point.Why would people switch? Because there's no spam in the Facebook Inbox. It's pretty powerful when the only people that can email you are people that you've given permission to email you.Of course, in order for this to work as a true email alternative, Facebook will have to ditch the 1000-member silencing of groups. (Which is, btw, stupid. People can un-join a group if they don't like what they're getting from 'em.)For years, people have been trying to solve the spam problem. Facebook has — they just need to realize it.

Comment by Kari Chisholm — July 15, 2007 @ 11:32 pm
only thing i don't like is the facebook message cc out to my normal email doesn't tell me what the friggin message says (altho the mobile connection does).but i agree, starting to see a pattern of behavior shifting.great blog btw. and i think i like the background highlighting on your links… it was a bit odd at first, but then i realized it's a very strong call-to-action highlight. (altho maybe a slightly light yellow could be less jarring / still effective). anyway, it's neat

Comment by dave mcclure — July 15, 2007 @ 11:43 pm
Yeah, I've been thinking about Facebook's email alternative for a while now.

Right now, they're are two things standing in the way of Facebook's Inbox really going wildfire as an email alternative… #1. The app isn't ready. It needs to be as full-featured as, say, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or Gmail. #2. Not everyone is on it.

Those are both easily surmountable, though. #1 is easily achievable with Facebook's engineering team (or, if they get bought out by someone else who already has an email app.) #2 is already underway. They'll soon hit 50 million people. Somewhere in that range is likely the tipping point.

Why would people switch? Because there's no spam in the Facebook Inbox. It's pretty powerful when the only people that can email you are people that you've given permission to email you.

Of course, in order for this to work as a true email alternative, Facebook will have to ditch the 1000-member silencing of groups. (Which is, btw, stupid. People can un-join a group if they don't like what they're getting from 'em.)

For years, people have been trying to solve the spam problem. Facebook has — they just need to realize it.

Comment by Kari Chisholm — July 16, 2007 @ 12:32 am
only thing i don't like is the facebook message cc out to my normal email doesn't tell me what the friggin message says (altho the mobile connection does).

but i agree, starting to see a pattern of behavior shifting.

great blog btw. and i think i like the background highlighting on your links… it was a bit odd at first, but then i realized it's a very strong call-to-action highlight. (altho maybe a slightly light yellow could be less jarring / still effective). anyway, it's neat

Comment by dave mcclure — July 16, 2007 @ 12:43 am
people who use gmail tend to use gmail each other. ironically, social network messaging does not do cc and bcc, which are important social qualifiers. and email is probably easier on the blackberry or mogul than accessing fb messages.

Comment by Minger — July 16, 2007 @ 12:30 am
E-mail being in such a sad state, I'm quite fine that Facebook (and anything like it) puts up a big stop sign of 'approve first, communicate later'. There's no spam because of that (aside from friend spam, heh).Add a little finesse to messaging, and sure, I'm game. Throw up the walls!

Comment by Eric Rice — July 16, 2007 @ 4:09 am
E-mail being in such a sad state, I'm quite fine that Facebook (and anything like it) puts up a big stop sign of 'approve first, communicate later'. There's no spam because of that (aside from friend spam, heh).

Add a little finesse to messaging, and sure, I'm game. Throw up the walls!

Comment by Eric Rice — July 16, 2007 @ 5:09 am
[...] Jeremiah Owyang asks if Facebook will supplant email. This is a very interesting question and quite definitely one of the issues that may make Facebook an irresistible force. Nick O’Neill of AllFacebook follows up Jeremiah’s post [...]

Pingback by Neil Ford » Blog Archive » Facebook: An irresistible force? — July 16, 2007 @ 11:41 am
[...] Nick O’Neill from allfacebook writes: I think that perhaps Facebook will slowly become the place where I do most of my communication with friends and email will be used for my less close contacts. Jeremiah Owyang commented on this today. His younger sister says that she â€œonly uses email to communicate with old people.â€ Bottom line, Facebook messaging has become a more effective way of communicating with people on a daily basis. Additionally, they have a great way of threading conversations just like Gmail does. Have you had the same experience of using Facebook as an alternative to email messages? [...]

Pingback by Death of Email: A sign? at HumaneIA — July 17, 2007 @ 5:12 am
Unfortunately, the FaceBook will not work as an email alternative for one main reason….its only used on Facebook!

If you are a person who doesnt like to store your data on Facebook, much less other peoples site's, then that solution will fail…and for allot of other people. I can understand your dependence and passion for using this one site for your source of cimmunication, but its one of many my friend. Such a solution needs to work across ALL WEB SITES. Thats why these social network solution will never become defacto standards for doing anything online, beyond drawing traffic and winning online popularity contests for groupies.

That leaves about 4 billion people right now around the world who still use traditional email, and NOT Facebook. So, dont go selling these subscription sites as the end-all-be-all of online messaging and communication. Facebook is just one domain out of millions of social networking sites that are trying to draw eyeballs for advertising purposes. Nothing innovative there. Granted, its one of the top most popular but it isnt solving the critical problms we have with email and personal data storage on the Web. Neither is Google.

A viable solution to email still remains to be found…..

Comment by Stormy — March 2, 2008 @ 7:26 am

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Also… no spam!

Comment by ajajaja — July 15, 2007 @ 1:13 pm

I wouldn't dream of sending one of my friends an email now that they're all on Facebook. I do, however, have to communicate with older generations through email. I don't expect this to last for much longer though – Facebook is simply far more efficient. Why would you want to communicate through a medium that completely isolates each communication transaction? Facebook ties it all into one place, and makes communication relevant to all the important data that exists in your social network, i.e. videos, images, and audio.

Comment by N.Cauldwell — July 15, 2007 @ 1:15 pm

Comment by N.Cauldwell — July 15, 2007 @ 2:15 pm

I get far more traction out of my e-mail reader than Facebook. I can reply easily, I can organize in different folders, and I can delete items from my in box and my sent box independently without having deletion in one place delete everywhere. I can subscribe to e-mail lists from anywhere (not within Facebook) and have an archive of the clippings that matter to me in my e-mail folders. I also can use desktop search on my e-mail folders, something I use a lot.Of course, I'm one of those older people. Facebooks "all in one place" strikes me as an illusion.

Comment by orcmid — July 15, 2007 @ 4:38 pm

Of course, I'm one of those older people. Facebooks "all in one place" strikes me as an illusion.

Comment by orcmid — July 15, 2007 @ 5:38 pm

Comment by ajajaja — July 15, 2007 @ 5:13 pm

people who use gmail tend to use gmail each other. ironically, social network messaging does not do cc and bcc, which are important social qualifiers. and email is probably easier on the blackberry or mogul than accessing fb messages.

Comment by Minger — July 15, 2007 @ 8:30 pm

"email is probably easier on the blackberry or mogul than accessing fb messages"I use Facebook's mobile website all the time from my Motorola Q smartphone: http://m.facebook.com. It's not quite as easy as email, but I wouldn't describe it as painful.

Comment by Branton — July 15, 2007 @ 10:15 pm

"email is probably easier on the blackberry or mogul than accessing fb messages"

I use Facebook's mobile website all the time from my Motorola Q smartphone: http://m.facebook.com. It's not quite as easy as email, but I wouldn't describe it as painful.

Comment by Branton — July 15, 2007 @ 11:15 pm

Yeah, I've been thinking about Facebook's email alternative for a while now. Right now, they're are two things standing in the way of Facebook's Inbox really going wildfire as an email alternative… #1. The app isn't ready. It needs to be as full-featured as, say, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or Gmail. #2. Not everyone is on it.Those are both easily surmountable, though. #1 is easily achievable with Facebook's engineering team (or, if they get bought out by someone else who already has an email app.) #2 is already underway. They'll soon hit 50 million people. Somewhere in that range is likely the tipping point.Why would people switch? Because there's no spam in the Facebook Inbox. It's pretty powerful when the only people that can email you are people that you've given permission to email you.Of course, in order for this to work as a true email alternative, Facebook will have to ditch the 1000-member silencing of groups. (Which is, btw, stupid. People can un-join a group if they don't like what they're getting from 'em.)For years, people have been trying to solve the spam problem. Facebook has — they just need to realize it.

Comment by Kari Chisholm — July 15, 2007 @ 11:32 pm

only thing i don't like is the facebook message cc out to my normal email doesn't tell me what the friggin message says (altho the mobile connection does).but i agree, starting to see a pattern of behavior shifting.great blog btw. and i think i like the background highlighting on your links… it was a bit odd at first, but then i realized it's a very strong call-to-action highlight. (altho maybe a slightly light yellow could be less jarring / still effective). anyway, it's neat

Comment by dave mcclure — July 15, 2007 @ 11:43 pm

Yeah, I've been thinking about Facebook's email alternative for a while now.

Right now, they're are two things standing in the way of Facebook's Inbox really going wildfire as an email alternative… #1. The app isn't ready. It needs to be as full-featured as, say, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or Gmail. #2. Not everyone is on it.

Those are both easily surmountable, though. #1 is easily achievable with Facebook's engineering team (or, if they get bought out by someone else who already has an email app.) #2 is already underway. They'll soon hit 50 million people. Somewhere in that range is likely the tipping point.

Why would people switch? Because there's no spam in the Facebook Inbox. It's pretty powerful when the only people that can email you are people that you've given permission to email you.

Of course, in order for this to work as a true email alternative, Facebook will have to ditch the 1000-member silencing of groups. (Which is, btw, stupid. People can un-join a group if they don't like what they're getting from 'em.)

For years, people have been trying to solve the spam problem. Facebook has — they just need to realize it.

Comment by Kari Chisholm — July 16, 2007 @ 12:32 am

only thing i don't like is the facebook message cc out to my normal email doesn't tell me what the friggin message says (altho the mobile connection does).

but i agree, starting to see a pattern of behavior shifting.

great blog btw. and i think i like the background highlighting on your links… it was a bit odd at first, but then i realized it's a very strong call-to-action highlight. (altho maybe a slightly light yellow could be less jarring / still effective). anyway, it's neat

Comment by dave mcclure — July 16, 2007 @ 12:43 am

Comment by Minger — July 16, 2007 @ 12:30 am

E-mail being in such a sad state, I'm quite fine that Facebook (and anything like it) puts up a big stop sign of 'approve first, communicate later'. There's no spam because of that (aside from friend spam, heh).Add a little finesse to messaging, and sure, I'm game. Throw up the walls!

Comment by Eric Rice — July 16, 2007 @ 4:09 am

Add a little finesse to messaging, and sure, I'm game. Throw up the walls!

Comment by Eric Rice — July 16, 2007 @ 5:09 am

[...] Jeremiah Owyang asks if Facebook will supplant email. This is a very interesting question and quite definitely one of the issues that may make Facebook an irresistible force. Nick O’Neill of AllFacebook follows up Jeremiah’s post [...]

Pingback by Neil Ford » Blog Archive » Facebook: An irresistible force? — July 16, 2007 @ 11:41 am

[...] Nick O’Neill from allfacebook writes: I think that perhaps Facebook will slowly become the place where I do most of my communication with friends and email will be used for my less close contacts. Jeremiah Owyang commented on this today. His younger sister says that she â€œonly uses email to communicate with old people.â€ Bottom line, Facebook messaging has become a more effective way of communicating with people on a daily basis. Additionally, they have a great way of threading conversations just like Gmail does. Have you had the same experience of using Facebook as an alternative to email messages? [...]

Pingback by Death of Email: A sign? at HumaneIA — July 17, 2007 @ 5:12 am

Unfortunately, the FaceBook will not work as an email alternative for one main reason….its only used on Facebook!

If you are a person who doesnt like to store your data on Facebook, much less other peoples site's, then that solution will fail…and for allot of other people. I can understand your dependence and passion for using this one site for your source of cimmunication, but its one of many my friend. Such a solution needs to work across ALL WEB SITES. Thats why these social network solution will never become defacto standards for doing anything online, beyond drawing traffic and winning online popularity contests for groupies.

That leaves about 4 billion people right now around the world who still use traditional email, and NOT Facebook. So, dont go selling these subscription sites as the end-all-be-all of online messaging and communication. Facebook is just one domain out of millions of social networking sites that are trying to draw eyeballs for advertising purposes. Nothing innovative there. Granted, its one of the top most popular but it isnt solving the critical problms we have with email and personal data storage on the Web. Neither is Google.

A viable solution to email still remains to be found…..

Comment by Stormy — March 2, 2008 @ 7:26 am

Facebook As An Email Alternative

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Follow AllFacebook

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Let your next job find you!

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Jobs of the Day

Digital Strategist

Digital/Social Media Manager - Entertainment

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See all jobs

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25819 CommentsFacebook+As+An+Email+Alternative2007-07-15+19%3A02%3A18Nick+O%27Neill »