[logn]

I think we have better solutions. Most of my social contacts are on Facebook with an optimized ranking system so I see what's important. Much of my work is handled on wikis instead of people emailing me documents. Links people might have emailed are now posted on twitter or other websites. Quick questions and answers are now in IM. Job inquiries are left on LinkedIn or HR management software.

If your inbox is jammed with work email, then you have a bad job. If your personal email is jammed, then you need to click 'Unsubscribe' more. Or you're a public figure, in which case they always have gotten mail, postal or electronic. The internet just let a lot more people become public figures, so be careful what you wish for.

[derrida]

Admittedly I haven't used Facebook for a few years, but using it as a replacement for email would be social (+ time) suicide for me. Many of the most interesting relationships I've begun through the net occurred because of anonymity and a general lack of ad hominem. When someone is just a random handle then they call the shots on how much information is available about them online, and ad hominem is harder. It is a sort of natural human thing to be curious about other people, but it's funny how knowing more (in terms of facts) can make your more subject to your own prejudices. I am reminded by a quote from Werner Herzog "Truth is not the facts. Facts are norms. Truth is an illumination."

Then there is the whole time aspect: Facebook was engineered from the beginning to be a place where you spend time so it can display advertisements.

[wavesounds]

Im curious to know what kind of job you have in which you don't get lots of emails? Maybe its because I've always had jobs working with customers but from my experience customers love sending emails.

[logn]

Yeah, perhaps my comment on work email only applies to people in my line of work, engineering and not working directly with customers. For people on the customer side maybe it's unavoidable (although there are apps attempting to address this). But as far as non-customer-facing engineers go, I've found that if you're constantly flooded with email you're probably in an organization with lots of bureaucracy where few people feel empowered to make decisions. For instance, when I want to hire someone (I manage), I do it by sending an email to the HR person saying essentially 'hire them'. My boss has empowered me to make this decision and no other departments get in the way, except if they limit the budget.