If you ask anyone about their inbox, it’s probably not super clean. I know I’ve got some stuff floating around in my Gmail account that needs to be taken care of. Important emails can go unnoticed and unread. Spam emails always find a way into my inbox. Email newsletters hardly get opened. You get CCed on emails that don’t mean anything to you. So what gives? Why do we still use email? I think there will be something better, but we aren’t there yet.

Today’s Social Networks Aren’t Going to Cut It

Early analysts thought that social media giants like Facebook and Twitter were going to destroy email. That didn’t happen. Even purely messaging apps such as Whatsapp, BBM, iMessages, Kik, AIM, and Hangouts have failed to put much of a dent in email. The problem is that with email, I can reach just about anyone. I cannot think of anyone over the age of 13 that doesn’t have an email address. In fact, in order to even sign up for just about any social network, you need an email address.

I can’t send a BBM to someone who only uses iMessages. If I wanted to reach everyone I know purely with IM services, imagine how many different accounts and logins I’d need. Too many. With email, all I need is my Gmail address, and I can email someone who uses any other emailing service. We don’t have this kind of cross-platform support with any of the IM services today. With just my Gmail account, I can contact some of the most influential people in the world, talk to large companies, send small files, and talk to my friends. Email is much more powerful.

What It’s Going to Take

In order to really get rid of email, we need something that will actually compete with it and solve the current problems it has. A service that will still allow for me to send messages to just about anyone, yet is a bit more automated when it comes to the information I recieve. A service that will let me know when I need to check a message right now, or will dismiss messages that I don’t even need to glance at.

Perhaps all we need is a new email service. A reform. Right now, I think Google’s Gmail is the best service, but we can do better. A paid service offering premium features such as smart parsing and automation could lead to a reform in email. Maybe email just needs to keep evolving, and it won’t be replaced in the forseeable future. Either way, there’s a big oppurtunity to make some real changes that could drastically change today’s email situation. We shouldn’t be just ok with email, we should love it. That’s why I check Twitter every day; not because I have to, but because it is an enjoyable experience.