Email--Essential but Overused

Given today’s fast paced world, I would say that email is an essential form of communication. It enables messages to be sent in a matter of seconds, while throughout history, sending letters and other items through the mail could take days, even weeks at times. With the role communication plays in the economy, education, and socialization presently, those lengths of time are clearly impractical. Thus, email is crucial in order to keep customers, employees, students, and friends all up to date on current events and happenings. However, I would argue that email is far overused. Since it is so simple to sit down and send a quick memo, many people send unnecessary messages that only manage to overflow inboxes. Being able to contact someone nearly instantly is such a privilege but is one we need only take advantage of in situations that call for fast notice.

Living without email would be somewhat of an adjustment for me, though it wouldn’t be as large of an adjustment as living without my cell phone, for example. As a student, email is important for receiving notifications from teachers and other groups around campus. My professors often send out valuable information about lecture, assignments, or other various opportunities. Additionally, having an email address is necessary to register for many websites and online tools. I use the address as a login ID or for when I forget my passwords. Occasionally, I receive emails from friends and family, but most times the messages are things they could tell me at another time. Also, I receive junk emails about offers and products I do not care to know about. If I went without email, I would not waste my time deleting and sorting through messages. Overall, without email access, I would be a rather uninformed individual, though I think I could still lead a functional life.