Email

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Email (electronic mail, e-mail) is a medium of electronic communication, used to send and receive messages. The email system can be compartmentalized into two subsystems: message handling system (MHS) and user agent (UA). The MHS is responsible for sending the message while the UA collaborates with the user to create, receive, and manage messages. Modern emails are standardized messages that are sent across networks with the assistance of the Internet. Emailing is widely regarded as a popular means of communication, with users partaking in emailing across the world. Email is commonly regarded as the communication tool of choice by academics and professionals. Popular international email providers include Google’s Gmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft’s Outlook. While email is praised for its efficiency, email users often face email overload, a state deriving from information overload. Other drawbacks of email include breaches of privacy and scamming.

Technical Development Origins

The origins of electronic mail existed before networks. In the 1960s, email was first developed on a single system. Time-shared operating systems created local email systems, sending mail between users on one system using local infrastructure. Single system email gained popularity and was common among operating systems by the early 1970s.

In July of 1971, Dick Watson of SRI International released “an Internet Request for Comments” (RFC-196) memo, creating “A Mail Box Protocol.” The protocol detailed the steps in which the Network Information Center (NIC) could electronically distribute documents on the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) for printing.

After reading the memo, Ray Tomilson of Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) modified Watson’s approach, suggesting that it was most efficient to share documents to a user’s mailbox and then allow the user to decipher what should be printed. To test his theory, Tomilson used two TENEX machines with single system email programs (SNDMSG), where he successfully sent messages between two different machines. Tomilson made two major contributions to the future of email. First, Tomilson created the modern email address. Tomilson revolutionarily added the “@” symbol to separate the username and the name of the host. Second, by sending the message to a remote user’s mailbox, Tomilson created the first MTA. The email was commonly used on the Arpanet by the end of 1973.

In early 1974, John Vittal of BBN created MSG, a new, stand-alone program that simply sent mail. The simple program only used 30 commands, including multiple commands that are commonly used today. Specifically, Vittal created the move, answer (resembling the modern “reply”), and forward commands. MSG revolutionized email and became Arpanet’s most used software for years.

Popular Providers

Email addresses can be hosted by email providers, companies, schools, or organizations. The host information comes after the “@” sign in the email address.

Yahoo! Mail

Yahoo launched Yahoo! Mail in October of 1997 as a free email service. Yahoo Mail was accessible from any computer with an Internet connection. Yahoo released the service advertising that users can use the same email address forever, eliminating any concerns of the impermanence of emailing. With the launch of Yahoo Mail came the launch of many new email amenities. First, Yahoo-registered users can use their Yahoo account on all personalized services. Yahoo Mail users were able to access their accounts on any computer with the Internet. Yahoo also prioritized password protection and management. Recognizing the prevalence of multimedia, Yahoo’s Mail also supported many types of multimedia, including HTML files, text, audio, and video. Yahoo released multiple contact features, granting users access to Four11’s directory of over 100 million email addresses and creating the address book feature, allowing users to create address books to their most-used names, addresses, and phone numbers. Originally, Yahoo gave users a free 3MB of storage space. Yahoo continued to upgrade storage to 100MB (2004), 1GB (2005), and finally unlimited email storage (2007).

Gmail

Google’s Gmail was created by Paul Huchheit, who began working on the software in August 2001. Almost three years later, Gmail was launched to the public on April 1, 2003. Gmail was developed with several unique features. First, Gmail included a search feature, allowing users to search for messages using any keyword. Unlike other providers at the time, Gmail launched with a starting storage capacity of 1 GB. Due to the high storage capacity, users were able to keep emails for a long period instead of deleting them to stay under the storage limit. Google’s Gmail also featured an inbox with messages that were not strictly sequential, with priority going to important messages. Messages that were sent in a back-and-forth pattern were characterized into a cluster called conversations. With conversations, users could figuratively say “goodbye” to duplicate text. To keep Gmail free, Google instituted small text ads within the platform.

Outlook.com

Microsoft soft-launched outlook.com in the summer of 2012, with the official launch of the network occurring in February 2013. Outlook.com replaced Hotmail, the network Microsoft acquired in 1997. However, Hotmail users were able to seamlessly transition from Hotmail to Outlook, while still receiving all benefits of Outlook. Outlook was marketed to remove all email barriers, allowing users to have a more modernized experience. Microsoft advertised Outlook’s “powerful” inbox with the ability to handle the mass influx of emails. Outlook also allows users to send hundreds of multimedia attachments within one message. An additional multimedia feature lets users connect to popular social media outlets from Outlook as well.

Benefits

At its creation, email had many unique benefits compared to other modes of communication. First, email was quite fast, allowing users to communicate almost instantaneously. Email is also not impacted by geographical distance; users can communicate across continents without additional delay. Unlike previous communication systems, with email, the sender and receiver are independent of each other. Both parties do not need to be online to create a successful email transaction. Email also supports a double-blind process, meaning that the sender does not know how the message is delivered and the receiver does not know the circumstances in which the email was sent. In the age of the Internet, email enables users to access a range of computer-based tools, allowing users to supplement their communicative experience. Email is also free, or available at a freemium, allowing any user with Internet access, regardless of socioeconomic status, to use the services.

Drawbacks

Email Overload

Email users often face email overload. The term, coined by Steve Whittaker and Candance Sidner in 1996, describes the status of being overwhelmed by both the volume and the different types of email. Moreover, users can feel email overload when they receive large amounts of emails with the emails requiring different actions (e.g. to do, to read, to reply, etc).

Causes

Volume

The email has become present in all aspects of life, including both professional and personal, making email a habitat for human communication. Due to the popularity of email, many users receive an influx of emails every day. A 2014 study determined that the average email user has 3,003 emails in their work inbox. The same study found that the same email users had over 15,030 emails in their inboxes.

Type

Email type can also catalyze email overload. Email users may accumulate stress as different emails require different actions. Work inboxes tend to include more reading material and emails requiring a direct response. On the other hand, personal inboxes may include bill payments, personal mail, and promotional material. Spam messages, including advertisements, are more likely to accumulate in the personal inbox compared to the work inbox. With every email requiring a different action, users may face stress.

However, the sheer volume and type of email do not guarantee email overload. Email overload is only a problem if the user feels negative emotions towards the state of their inbox. One study shows that the number of unread emails may better correlate to email overload, with higher amounts of unread emails predicting an overwhelmed sentiment.

Effects

Email overload may hinder productivity in the workplace. It is predicted that the average professional spends 28% of their workday reading and answering emails. This equates to 2.6 hours of receiving approximately 120 emails a day. Professionals are predicted to check their email 15 times per workday (equivalent to every 37 minutes). Employees may check their emails with a high frequency due to the overwhelming nature of the inbox. However, over-checking emails may waste up to 21 minutes per day. Likewise, those without organizational systems, may waste an additional 27 minutes per day.

Additionally, email overload can decrease job satisfaction due to the mental effects of information overload. A Forbes study found that more than ⅓ of employees surveyed expressed that email overload might motivate them to quit their jobs.

Potential Solutions

Individual Action

Individuals can decrease their likelihood of developing email overload by taking control of their inboxes. To control the flow of emails, experts recommend limiting the number of incoming emails by unsubscribing to e-newsletters, turning off social media notifications (e.g. Facebook), and resisting the temptation to send quick, unnecessary messages (e.g. “Thanks”).

Next, experts recommend cleaning out the inbox through adhering to the following guidelines: delete, respond, file. Often, users can delete an email based on the title of the message. Email users can respond to quick emails next. Finally, users could file their emails into flags or labels. Users who frequently file emails can be categorized as “frequent filers,” with infrequent filers categorized as “spring cleaners,” and then those who do not partake in the filing as “no filers.” Filing emails is up to the user's discretion as efficiency depends on the situation. Many email providers offer folders, nested folders, filters, labels, important markers, and more within their amenities.

Company

Companies have made efforts to reduce email overload among their employees. In 2012, Volkswagen decided to stop its Blackberry servers from sending email messages to some employees after their shift. Under the agreement, Volkswagen’s servers stopped sending emails 30 minutes after the end of the employees' shift until 30 minutes before their next workday began.

Provider

Experts suggest that there are additional routes email providers can take to limit email overload within their software. These suggestions include providing users with unique email addresses that they can send/forward emails to convert into tasks or creating a program allowing users to add emails to a simple to-do list within the platform, among others.