Should FB replace personal emails?
By 41Combedale
@41CombedaleRoad (5952)
Greece
November 10, 2012 1:13pm CST
I am on Facebook, it became vital in order for me to keep track of the younger members of my family. I cannot say that I enjoy it much, of course I get some idea of what they are up to but it is restricted both in content and language. Sometimes I have not got any idea what the comments mean.
I 0ccasionally opt to go off FB for a while but then I have no idea of what is going on, so I get back on and try and catch up with the news and look at the photos etc. FB seems OK for friends and colleagues but I do think that family members should write personal emails to one another. FB is too public a place to do this, although there is a messaging box.
If it is a case of quantity rather than quality, then I would prefer to have a a quality email written just to me and not to me plus all the others who are 'friends' to read and respond to. Am I just old fashioned or do others feel the same way?
3 people like this
16 responses
@sylvia13 (1850)
• Nelson Bay, Australia
10 Nov 12
Like you, I might also be old fashioned, but I dislike FB for the same reasons as you. Public messages tend to be too short for my liking and I dislike all the abbreviations people like to use too. One is not really free to write messages, as one seems to be very restricted. Personal emails sent directly to people one wants to communicate with seems to be a better alternative: longer and more private too!!
@41CombedaleRoad (5952)
• Greece
11 Nov 12
Thank you for your comments Sylvia. I guess we have a great deal in common. Maybe a few long and private emails would be welcome from family and friends. We can only hope...
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
11 Nov 12
I think that the use of our personal emails have been decreased due to "Facebooking" most of the time, as our friends and loved ones are almost as often as we are. But I still turn to my emails when sending messages which might be more than what the tone of my messages are in Facebook. Messages via Facebook are informal. And with some real serious matters, I prefer using emails.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
11 Nov 12
That makes two of us. I too am a bit disappointed with FB. It was alright when we just started there getting to interact with our long lost friends and extended family and that loses it sheen after a while. It is happening to me right now. I too do not go there as much as I used to. I am slowly getting back to writing emails now.
Good topic!
1 person likes this
@Metatronik (6199)
• Pasay, Philippines
11 Nov 12
It is not a good idea that facebook private messages would replace the emails. The advantage of having emails is that you can attached the files in huge or larger file size. It is also necessary to keep all your private documents especially that are important. FB is not really a advantage at all in terms of this matter.
1 person likes this
@eagletrek2 (5499)
• Kingston, New York
10 Nov 12
Personal email should be use
fb is not that private now if there
A special thing going on like a brand new
Kid baby that can br posted on fb.
OK have a good day
@watchamacallitz (1171)
• Philippines
10 Nov 12
No, Facebook has different uses for different people but personally, i would still prefer having a personal and safer email. I also check my email on a regular basis since most of my work communications were sent thru that medium.
@littlefranciscan (18327)
• United States
11 Nov 12
I think that facebook is nice for socializing but not for personalizing. Anything there, I believe, is not private and if you value your friendships ..private stuff should have it own email apart from all the public social networks..just my opinion
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
17 Nov 12
A long, long time ago when I first joined FB I discovered what some of my nieces and nephews were up to. I was upset by the drunken ramblings at parties and the state of undress my niece chose to post photos of.
My own kids explained it away saying they were young and it was normal high jinks but I decided I didn't want to know about what was going on in the family so I left.
My sister and I send emails back and forth from time to time; there's go to about 20 other people.
I prefer emails to phone calls, calls are too intrusive. (I work at home)
@gitfiddleplayer (10362)
• United States
10 Nov 12
Facebook was started by young people who don't know the power of the internet, they just know it as a tool to keep in touch. I'm sure lots of them have never written a letter to somebody and rarely talk to a person. They text, they poke, everything is quick, there is not an investment in relationships anymore. I use Facebook to find new music and keep up with friends whom I haven't seen, I do get to their their kids grow up and since I don't live in the same area I grew up I can see the benefit it does offer. I however like to communicate through person to person, Facebook is public and most of them have no idea how many people see their posts, including future employers who base their history of the company on your past.
@41CombedaleRoad (5952)
• Greece
11 Nov 12
That last sentence of yours is significant. People just don't know or don't think about possible future developments. I am afraid many of our young people are going to find out the hard way and wish they had kept their youthful comments out of the FB arena.
It has limited uses and, as you imply, it is good to see photos etc. of people who we might otherwise not see for years.
@Danzylop (1120)
• Philippines
11 Nov 12
If emailing, meaning getting in touch with other members of the family, for me it is OK. You just have to make sure that all privacy settings is up to keep the conversations undisclosed to others.
You adjust visibility of a post only to limited individuals. It is more enjoyable because you get to chat with family members while discussing what has happened to someone's life.
@bounce58 (17385)
• Canada
8 Jan 13
It used to annoy me when people send emails through Facebook. I felt that FB has taken over too much of our lives that even sending and receiving emails have to be through facebook also.
Then I got a smartphone with an FB app. I realized that people just use FB as another means to send emails (as long as it is not a public post). So, I've soften my stand against FB-emails.
@getbiswa2000 (5544)
• India
11 Nov 12
I think email is email and facebook is facebook. They have their own utilities. Facebook is having an inbox which you can use for private conversations. Moreover your chat messages are not seen by others unless you invite someone into conference. But yet it's facebook and it's complicated. For emails a simple email application would do just fine. Emails are simple and easy to use. Moreover you can use so many email programs in your mobiles with equal ease. The same thing is not true for facebook. There are several applications that you can use in devices other than computers. But you will never have the same feeling.
There is another thing that I really don't like about facebook. It shows a lot about one's profile. However, you can always change your privacy settings, yet the same thing stops you from doing that. It's complicated.
@MsControversy (446)
• United States
10 Nov 12
I actually don't even use my e-mail any more. My e-mail address is only there for when some website asks for it. I never even check it unless I have to confirm something. I always use Facebook, even to message my mom or whatever. I always just tell people to inbox me. Either that or I text. I don't even think I have any contacts in my e-mail or even know what anyone else's e-mail address is except for my husband's lol.
1 person likes this
@franseman (516)
• Philippines
11 Nov 12
Hi there. Like you, I use facebook to stay in contact with my relatives and friends. 6 years ago I left Holland to live in the Philippines and with facebook I can share all my experiences and also pictures. But personal matters I don't discuss there in public. So I sent private messages there that no-one else can see. A,B,C, easy as 1,2,3!
Apart from that I still use my email account as well.
@kokomo (1867)
• Philippines
11 Nov 12
You are right.Though Facebook is widespread already and almost all of us has an account in there, I still cannot say that it is reliable in terms of privacy. Facebook is designed just for social networking only, a tool also for communication to all our friends all over the globe.
@shilran (178)
•
11 Nov 12
communicate with people via emails you already have email service supplying companies like yahoo,msn,gmail. Facebook is different from them. So i think we must not mixed up everything together. if you want to send msgs via FB to some one they have that facility either.what else you expect? :)
