Not Quite the End of Email

Back in February, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg announced amidst great fanfare that Facebook was to launch an email service that was to spell the end of email, arguing that young people saw emails as ‘too formal’ and a ‘cognitive load’.

The new feature, called ‘Messages’, allows users to correspond with their friends through a variety of various channels such as email, chat, SMS and instant messaging.  Through the integrated service all channels come into one ‘feed’ and users are able to respond in any way they want. 

According to a recent study by Which? Computing, however, this new email service is far behind its competitors.  According to Sarah Kidner, editor of the consumer magazine, Facebook’s email service was found to be ‘very basic, lack(ed) features and fell far short of its competitors’. 

The study looked at the seven major email providers and scored them based on a set of criteria, including how they dealt with features such as attachments and multiple conversations.  Of the seven providers, Windows Live Hotmail (83%) scored the highest, with Google’s Gmail (69%) coming second.  Facebook (48%), however, came in second from bottom and was only spared the embarrassment of last place by Hushmail (40%), which was rated the worst. 

Facebook has reacted to this study by arguing that Facebook ‘Messages’ was ‘not email’ and that its main focus is on creating an integrated, simple and fast experience for users to communicate with each other.  Despite Facebook’s protests, however, the ‘Messages’ feature was seen as a direct challenge to Google when it was launched and was perceived to be a major tool in the ongoing battle between the two Internet giants over gaining users. 

Although the verdict on Facebook ‘Messages’ is quite damning, it is also important to note that the service is still relatively new and that any glitches and problems with it can be fixed in the near future. 

As a Facebook user, have you signed up to the ‘Messages’ feature?  And if you have, how have you found it?  Join the debate at Pipon Solutions.