Are youth shunning email?

"Email is the new snail mail..." for today's youth says an article in USA Today. What's causing that?

• Spam is junking up email inboxes. A 2003 Pew study, "Spam: How it is hurting email and degrading life on the Internet " stated that about half of all email was spam. Spam has mushroomed from then. People feel that it's out of control and they don't want to have to deal with it.
• Cell phones let youth communicate faster than typing email messages.
• Instant Messaging (IM) is gaining popularity with the young crowd, which favors immediate gratification in communication.
• Text messaging from cell phones and hand held devices fills a desire for immediate, "anywhere" communication.

Does quick communication have a down-side?

A problem with the faster ways of communicating is the chance of bad assumptions. The list below is in order of increased possible misunderstanding of the message:

• Face-to-face talking, which has the least chance of being misunderstood due to observation of voice tone plus body language.
• Phone calls
• Email
• Instant Messaging (IM)
• Text messaging (or should I say "TXT MSGNG"?) is fast and convenient but conveys the least amount of total information about the message.

Do we even need email anymore?

This is not the death nell for email. Even youth do see a continuing need for email:

• When the message needs to go to many people, not just one.
• For more formal correspondence. Not that long ago, email was looked at as too informal,; now some view it as more formal than their normal communications.
• When the message needs attachments.
• For better documentation.
• When they have more time and an increased desire to write (in sentences) and perhaps late at night when the other person is not available by IM, phone, or text messaging.
• When communicating with adults and people in authority.

How does this apply to churches?

Your church needs to communicate to youth on their level. In communicating with youth, do your leaders:

• Use cell phones?
• Use IM? (Address privacy concerns, identity theft, and attacks)
• Use web-based chat? (Address privacy concerns, identity theft, and attacks)
• Use text messaging? R U OK W/ TXT MSGS?
• Offer (via your web site) blogs or discussion forums where youth can engage each other and the church leadership via the web? (Make sure you address privacy concerns, protect identities, and protect against attacks.)