You've Got Mail

E-mail. Electronic mail. Fun stuff, huh? What was it like before e-mail? This reminds me of my previous post about cell phones. E-mail has become an easy way to connect with people, even stretching across the planet. Pretty huge. Initially, I'm sure that e-mail was most useful to businesses and large corporations. They could effectively and efficiently spread the word about a pressing issue, inquire about important information, and communicate with virtually the entire world. All of the sudden, communication was at our very fingertips. As the convienience of e-mail became more widely accessable, people flocked to their computers to create their own e-mail addresses. It was simple. Easy. Anyone could do it. The benefits of this system far outweighed any potential disadvantages. Even then it was just merely a tool of sorts to connect people.


But, this tool also prevented people from actually having to deal with one another face-to-face or even over the phone. After you sent that e-mail, your reader could interpret your written words in ways you might not have expressed to them in a genuine conversation. Once you click the "send" button, you are sending out a message to which you no longer have control of the sentiment you mean to express. However, as a more recent trend, the use of punctuation marks, "smilies," and other universal symbols have managed to provide a more explicit meaning to the reader. Uploading pictures directly into the e-mail is another way to convey the feelings in your message clearly. As technology develops more and more, the human race will continue to communicate in new ways. What I am trying to express is that as these new communicative tools develop, we must still be able to personalize the messages we send. Outside of business interactions, the e-mails that we send to maintain contacts should seem as authentic as our presence with the reader. I hope that we can always find new and inventive ways to keep in touch and yet still portray ourselves as we really are. If we are not able to do this, how will the recipient ever really know you? And what would be the point of keeping in contact with someone if you didn't really want them to know you? These are only my opinions and thoughts on the matter.