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Email. It's becoming more and more common for people to rely on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other proprietary, closed systems. Several times this year I've

Email. It's becoming more and more common for people to rely on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other proprietary, closed systems. Several times this year I've tried to get in touch with someone online only to find that they simply don't make an email address available.

kleer001 11y ago
True. I'm starting to realize that these seemingly rock solid "places" are really just ephemeral watering holes. BBSes, AOL, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram... Let's drink up in comradeship before it dries away.
- duncan_bayne 11y ago
  But more significantly (I think): it is socially acceptable to expect people to sign up to closed systems in order to communicate. How can we reverse this trend?
- daxfohl 11y ago
  Done, Highland Park 18. Great suggestion. (feels his social/tech relevance dying away as he types)
Gustomaximus 11y ago
At a personal level maybe, in the business world can't see it disappearing easily. It's more a matter of educating people how to use it. I really believe companies should set some level of email training in their development i.e. don't reply all thanks, don't treat it like IM, how to use cc/to correctly, how to auto filter etc. More generally history tends to show proprietary systems like Linkedin/FB break down and are replaced. They are too open to profiteering if companies feel they have market dominance. Every companey eventually gets that short therm thinking manager that want instant profit at the expense of user experience and it's so easy to swap platforms these days. Take the messaging Linkedin update they did a few weeks back. You cant see sent emails anymore if you didn't get a reply, and the increased need for a paid account to contact people. I'm seriously considering canceling my paid account as they keep taking more away. I more feel email will at some point advance in usability. The market is ripe for a business to re-think they standard interface. Basically do what threaded SMS did to the old one message at a time SMS days.

kleer001 11y ago

True. I'm starting to realize that these seemingly rock solid "places" are really just ephemeral watering holes. BBSes, AOL, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram... Let's drink up in comradeship before it dries away.

duncan_bayne 11y ago
But more significantly (I think): it is socially acceptable to expect people to sign up to closed systems in order to communicate. How can we reverse this trend?
daxfohl 11y ago
Done, Highland Park 18. Great suggestion. (feels his social/tech relevance dying away as he types)

Gustomaximus 11y ago

At a personal level maybe, in the business world can't see it disappearing easily. It's more a matter of educating people how to use it. I really believe companies should set some level of email training in their development i.e. don't reply all thanks, don't treat it like IM, how to use cc/to correctly, how to auto filter etc. More generally history tends to show proprietary systems like Linkedin/FB break down and are replaced. They are too open to profiteering if companies feel they have market dominance. Every companey eventually gets that short therm thinking manager that want instant profit at the expense of user experience and it's so easy to swap platforms these days. Take the messaging Linkedin update they did a few weeks back. You cant see sent emails anymore if you didn't get a reply, and the increased need for a paid account to contact people. I'm seriously considering canceling my paid account as they keep taking more away. I more feel email will at some point advance in usability. The market is ripe for a business to re-think they standard interface. Basically do what threaded SMS did to the old one message at a time SMS days.