E-Mail’s Big Demographic Split

By MATT RICHTEL
NYT

In an article in Tuesday’s Times, I wrote about the changing status of e-mail. Once it was cool to merely have an e-mail account (or several), but many young people now think of it as old school, and much prefer the zip of texting, instant messaging and social networks.

Indeed, a deeper look at the statistics shows just how much personal e-mail use divides along generational lines.

In the last year, time spent using e-mail sites like Yahoo and Hotmail has fallen 48 percent among 12- to 17-year-olds, according to comScore, a market research firm. The statistics only include time spent with e-mail on computers, so the decline may be somewhat offset by teenagers using e-mail on their phones.

Still, the drop for that age group is far sharper than for others. ComScore found a decline of 10 percent in time spent on Web-based email among 18- to 24-year-olds, about the same as it found for people up to the age of 54.

(Original here.)