Email Isn’t the Thing We’re Bad At • Hacker News Board

Re: Email Isn’t the Thing We’re Bad At

#41

Post by coldtea » Tue, Apr 26, 2016, 2:03 AM UTC

stegosaurus wrote: post #15

I actually wish e-mail were used more. I want my relatives, my spouse, my friends to use e-mail. I'm not quite sure how to convince them, though. It generally feels like they'd rather use Facebook or WhatsApp or whatever's in fashion at the moment. Any tips? Do I just have to sign up to all of the different chat apps and write bots to forward them to me or something?

>I'm not quite sure how to convince them, though.

By sending them email?

Re: Email Isn’t the Thing We’re Bad At

#42

Post by ae_keji » Tue, Apr 26, 2016, 2:15 AM UTC

dopeboy wrote: post #24

stegosaurus wrote: post #15

I actually wish e-mail were used more. I want my relatives, my spouse, my friends to use e-mail. I'm not quite sure how to convince them, though. It generally feels like they'd rather use Facebook or WhatsApp or whatever's in fashion at the moment. Any tips? Do I just have to sign up to all of the different chat apps and write bots to forward them to me or something?

Same. If there was an app that could send FB messages, whatsapp, and SMS to my email where I could respond from, I'd pay for it.

Even though I prefer email to all other protocols, that would be a great way to kill my inbox. It seems a but counter intuitive, but having so many chat/communication standards acts as a way to organize all my messaging activity. Email is formal, SMS is slightly less formal but more direct, Whatsapp is completely informal but more convenient for casual conversations than SMS, and though I don't use Facebook Messenger I'm sure it has a spot somewhere in there.

Re: Email Isn’t the Thing We’re Bad At

#43

Post by overgard » Tue, Apr 26, 2016, 2:18 AM UTC

I'm one of those people with a bajillion unread emails -- 15,615 at the moment, but I feel like this is manufacturing a problem I don't have. Inbox zero or whatever does nothing for me. Here's like a sample of things I haven't bothered to click: "YMCA membership survey", "Recommended coursera courses", "grubhub order", "Mailing list update for a blog I read sometimes". These aren't really things I feel any sort of pressure to read, but I haven't put in a filter on them either because sometimes I want to see them. They're not really blocking me from seeing my important emails.

This notion that I'm "bad" at email or that I need to "do" something about this; why would I want to fix something that's working pretty much exactly how I want?

I could go mark them read even though I haven't read them and don't momentarily care to, but that only holds value to me if you assume that I view my unread email counter like some sort of unfinished task list -- which I don't. It's literally just a measure of things I haven't read. It means nothing to me.

Re: Email Isn’t the Thing We’re Bad At

#44

Post by zck » Tue, Apr 26, 2016, 2:19 AM UTC

schizoidboy wrote: post #22

zck wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds awful. It's a push model on someone else's terms. Think of it this way -- would you want someone else deciding how often you'd look at their web page?

I was thinking primarily for close friends, but for broader contacts, I agree with you, so I was thinking of a system that would allow them to unsubscribe from certain topics (e.g. politics)

How do you unsubscribe from certain topics? Would you have to email your friend and ask him or her to not tell you about politics? There's a whole lot of social pressure that means people are reluctant to do that.

Re: Email Isn’t the Thing We’re Bad At

#45

Post by Sophistifunk » Tue, Apr 26, 2016, 2:19 AM UTC

stegosaurus wrote: post #15

I actually wish e-mail were used more. I want my relatives, my spouse, my friends to use e-mail. I'm not quite sure how to convince them, though. It generally feels like they'd rather use Facebook or WhatsApp or whatever's in fashion at the moment. Any tips? Do I just have to sign up to all of the different chat apps and write bots to forward them to me or something?

Delete your Facebook. There are a more benefits than being able to email; you'll stop pretending to be friends with those kids from high school, don't see your ex's new life, and you can get drunk with your friends without your aunt knowing.

Re: Email Isn’t the Thing We’re Bad At

#46

Post by soyiuz » Tue, Apr 26, 2016, 2:48 AM UTC

overgard wrote: post #43

I'm one of those people with a bajillion unread emails -- 15,615 at the moment, but I feel like this is manufacturing a problem I don't have. Inbox zero or whatever does nothing for me. Here's like a sample of things I haven't bothered to click: "YMCA membership survey", "Recommended coursera courses", "grubhub order", "Mailing list update for a blog I read sometimes". These aren't really things I feel any sort of pr…

Hmm. The problem with that approach is that among many things that mean nothing in your inbox, there are some that are quite meaningful. And these have the potential to get lost among the noise.

Re: Email Isn’t the Thing We’re Bad At

#47

Post by rokhayakebe » Tue, Apr 26, 2016, 2:51 AM UTC

stegosaurus wrote: post #15

I actually wish e-mail were used more. I want my relatives, my spouse, my friends to use e-mail. I'm not quite sure how to convince them, though. It generally feels like they'd rather use Facebook or WhatsApp or whatever's in fashion at the moment. Any tips? Do I just have to sign up to all of the different chat apps and write bots to forward them to me or something?

I wish every product developer thought Email-First.

Re: Email Isn’t the Thing We’re Bad At

#48

Post by capote » Tue, Apr 26, 2016, 2:55 AM UTC

Sophistifunk wrote: post #45

stegosaurus wrote: post #15

I actually wish e-mail were used more. I want my relatives, my spouse, my friends to use e-mail. I'm not quite sure how to convince them, though. It generally feels like they'd rather use Facebook or WhatsApp or whatever's in fashion at the moment. Any tips? Do I just have to sign up to all of the different chat apps and write bots to forward them to me or something?

Delete your Facebook. There are a more benefits than being able to email; you'll stop pretending to be friends with those kids from high school, don't see your ex's new life, and you can get drunk with your friends without your aunt knowing.

This exactly. I deleted my Facebook years ago, and everyone about whom I care communicates with me via iMessage (short), Skype, and email--which in my view are the simple, not too problematic originals. My family, spread across two coasts of the US, and Eastern Europe actually has email threads going in which we keep up with each other, share findings, and make fun of one another.

Re: Email Isn’t the Thing We’re Bad At

#49

Post by dublinben » Tue, Apr 26, 2016, 3:02 AM UTC

stegosaurus wrote: post #15

I actually wish e-mail were used more. I want my relatives, my spouse, my friends to use e-mail. I'm not quite sure how to convince them, though. It generally feels like they'd rather use Facebook or WhatsApp or whatever's in fashion at the moment. Any tips? Do I just have to sign up to all of the different chat apps and write bots to forward them to me or something?

The best strategy I've found is to simply be unavailable on those other platforms. Regularly initiate conversations on email, and they will get used to it.

Re: Email Isn’t the Thing We’re Bad At

#50

Post by trentmb » Tue, Apr 26, 2016, 3:25 AM UTC

decasteve wrote: post #38

stegosaurus wrote: post #15

I actually wish e-mail were used more. I want my relatives, my spouse, my friends to use e-mail. I'm not quite sure how to convince them, though. It generally feels like they'd rather use Facebook or WhatsApp or whatever's in fashion at the moment. Any tips? Do I just have to sign up to all of the different chat apps and write bots to forward them to me or something?

The only solution I can see is making sure you have their email addresses and reach out to them with meaningful emails. They all still have email addresses. One of my favourite things is reconnecting with people after time apart. With tools like Facebook, this rarely happens any more. It feels weird not to see someone for a while, then you reconnect in person and know too much about what's gone on in their lives. It…

> It takes the intimacy out of the person-to-person conversation of catching-up.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels this way.