As you’ve probably heard by now, on Wednesday June 16 at the Nielsen Consumer 360 Conference, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO, uttered the prognostication heard round the world:
“If you want to know what people like us will do tomorrow, you look at what teenagers are doing today. Email–I can’t imagine life without it–is probably going away.”
While there certainly are major changes occurring in how people of all ages are communicating, the premise that email is going away because most teens don’t use email is neither a new theory or one that most experts agree with. I’ll share my views on this in an upcoming post. In this post, however, I will share a light-hearted Twitter conversation that erupted on Friday June 18.
Friday morning I awoke early to an email from a client that wanted our views on Ms. Sandberg’s comments, which was followed closely by a conversation on the topic in an email marketing discussion forum that I am a member of. In a moment of inspiration, I decided the best way to respond to her flawed thinking was through humor and Twitter.
With the Tweet below, I started a hashtag conversation – #emailisdeadanalogy – that at last count had more than 110 Tweets and Retweets – which was also helped by a mention in Sherry Chigar’s (Chief Marketer’s Big Fat Marketing Blog) post Rumors of E-mail’s Death Are Blah Blah Blah…:
Most teens don’t golf, golf has no future #emailisdeadanalogy – join the fun thanks to Facebook COO saying “email is going away”
Following are some of my favorite “email is dead analogies” (including a few of my own contributions) that have been Tweeted so far:
Kids don’t drive. Therefore, cars will soon cease to exist. http://conta.cc/aunRtp #emailisdeadanalogy (Martin Lieberman)
Most teens don’t buy stocks so Wall Street has no future #emailisdeadanalogy (Brent Shroyer)
Teens aren’t COOs. There’s no future for COOs. #emailisdeadanalogy (Jeff Rohrs)
most teens don’t bank so banking has no future #emailisdeadanalogy (John Caldwwell)
Most teens don’t get off the couch much, so walking doesn’t have much of a future. #emailisdeadanalogy (Brent Shroyer)
Most teens don’t vote, so democracy has no future. #emailisdeadanalogy (Jason French)
#emailisdeadanalogy Most teens don’t pay taxes, therefore the country has no future. (Bill McCloskey)
Most teens don’t use their cell phone for phone calls, therefore the phone is dead #emailisdeadanalogy (Scott Cohen)
Most teens don’t pay bills, bills have no future #emailisdeadanalogy (Morgan Stewart)
Teens favorite mode of transportation is the skateboard, the car will probably go away #emailisdeadanalogy (Loren McDonald)
And I’ll add my own: Most teens don’t use good judgement, so reason has no future… #emailisdeadanalogy (Rand Wacker)
Most teens don’t have kids, there will be no children in the future #emailisdeadanalogy (Morgan Stewart)
Most teens don’t drink red wine, red wine is probably going away #emailisdeadanalogy (Loren McDonald)
most teens don’t work so business has no future #emailisdeadanalogy (John Caldwell)
Most teens don’t own homes, so home ownership has no future. #emailisdeadanalogy (Chad White)
Have any favorites or analogies you’d like to contribute to the conversation? Please add them below and on Twitter.
Most teens earn less than $15 an hour so making money has no future. #emailisdeadanalogy
[...] Teens don’t drink red wine, red wine will probably go away While there certainly are major changes occurring in how people of all ages are communicating, the premise that email is going away because most teens don’t use email is neither a new theory or one that most experts agree with. [...]
[...] And I won’t really comment on Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s inane remark last week that “email is dead because young people don’t use it” other than to paraphrase two things I read on a discussion list I’m on: “Just checked, and you still need an email address to sign-up for a Facebook account,” and “Most teens don’t buy stocks so Wall Street has no future.” More entertaining analogies are listed here. http://www.silverpop.com/blogs/engagement-marketing/email/teens-dont-drink-red-wine-will-probably-go… [...]
[...] Teens Don’t Drink Red Wine, Red Wine Will Probably Go Away [...]
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[...] >>Loren McDonald of Silverpop takes on Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s twisted logic about email dying and starts a Twitter conversation, asking folks for their best #emailisdeadanalogy based on Sandberg’s logic. >>Follow the ping [...]
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[...] It’s time “journalists” and media folks stopped basing all their prognostications on what teens are doing. When I was a teen, “No Fear” was cool and “Bush” was a crappy-but-popular alternative band, not a slang for a bad presidential move. People grow up and start valuing function, order, and control. Email gives all of that. (Loren McDonald nailed this media baloney with his post: “Teens Don’t Drive Red Wine, Red Wine Will Probably Go Away.”) [...]
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Most teens don’t drive into the city for work two times a week and work from home the other days of the week, so no work will be available in the city or from home in the future.