According to comscore’s latest report on Email evolution in US (Nov 2010),
- The number of visitors to web-based email sites (gmail, hotmail, yahoo mail etc) declined 6 percent compared to the previous year
- Email engagement declined at an even greater rate (i.e. email was not their medium of communication)
- The number of users accessing email via their mobile devices grew by 36 percent
- Youngsters between 12-17 have stayed away from web based email.
- The number of 55-64 year olds accessing web-based email increased 15 percent
- While web-based email has witnessed a decline over the past year, email usage via mobile devices has experienced significant growth, driven largely by increased smartphone adoption.
- 70.1 million mobile users (30 percent of all mobile subscribers) accessed email on their mobile, an increase of 36 percent from the previous year.
- The report rightly mentions – it’s now essential for media brands to have a strong presence in both arenas (PC web & mobile web)
- Web based email saw time spent falling 9%, and page views dropping 15%.
- Most teens in the US are texting (SMS) to communicate
| Web-based Email Category Usage* November 2010 vs. November 2009 Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix |
|||
| Email Category | |||
| Nov-09 | Nov-10 | % Change | |
| Total Unique Visitors (000) | 162,908 | 153,363 | -6 |
| Total Minutes (MM) | 47,862 | 43,374 | -9 |
| Total Pages Viewed (MM) | 44,840 | 38,204 | -15 |
Youngsters these days are ‘introduced to email’ on mobile devices, unlike most of us were introduced to email on PC web.
How different would this report be in India?
- Not every different.
- Youngsters in India too are texting every other minute (language is taking a huge beating).
- Teenagers ask me to communicate thru Facebook mail and not regular mail.
- Older folks possibly write longer mails and communicate less frequently while the youngsters communicate very often, its bits & pieces (and < 140 chars!)
