Email: messages distributed by an electronic means from one computer user to one or more recipients via a network. Email is the oldest and truly the essential communication method when dealing with the Internet. It is a simple idea: sending a message electronically, but it has dramatically changed the very face of the social and business worlds in the modern society.
Email is the original and most basic form of computer-mediated communication (CMC). According to lecture it is considered one-to-one asynchronous communication. That means that it is a message that goes to from one user to one other, to be viewed by one other at a time. Asynchronous refers to the fact that email communication does not occur in real time, as opposed to instant messaging. While it is possible to send one email to many recipients at once, it is still considered one-to-one in that each recipient receives it individually.
Email affects people each and every day. It is not only a part of the social life; it is now engrained in the business world. According to one study, employees at work at interrupted from their work every five minutes by an email (Mano, 62). This sort of quasi-constant communication can be very helpful in the business world. The fast exchange of information is essential for a company to survive. This was never more true than today. The lecture referred to the fact that attachments now can be put onto emails, which exponentially increases the amount of information that can be disseminated. One can send anything from pictures, voice, videos, graphics, and any sort of document as an attachment on an email according to the lecture. All of these things have also become essential in the business, and indeed the private/ social, world. The ability to communicate and share documents via email has reduced the need for many phone calls and made the fax machine all but extinct.
However with the massive benefits email provides, it does come with a down side. It has allowed hackers and thieves a new medium in which to cause problems. The lecture named problems such and viruses and identity theft as some of the major threats linked with email. Phishing is another scheme where an email is sent, which looks a lot like a reputable companies’ email, and asks for personal/account information. However, as email penetration continues to increase, these problems should decrease, as people are become more and more aware of these problems.
Computers in Human Behavior published an article that studied the effect that email has on work performance specifically in the work place. They considered a number of factors and came upon several conclusions. They found those larger organizations, the larger number of emails, the greater proportion of work-related emails, and the greater intensity of checking email. The also found that the more emails one gets, the more effective they are working, however their stress level increases. However it was found that work-related emails improve effectives but have a negligible effect on stress (Mano, 68).
Mano, Rita S. (2009, January). E-mail characteristics, work performance and distress. Computers in Human Behavior, 26, 61-69
(Journal accessed online via: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VDC-4X9V2W5-1&_user=10&_coverDate=01%2F31%2F2010&_rdoc=8&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info(%23toc%235979%232010%23999739998%231557110%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&_cdi=5979&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=13&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=150ce729c9c32047af87ca1bc6583b3f)
