Email is a unique communication medium. Faster than physical mail, but certainly less immediate than chat. I think it generally encourages longer, more thoughtful conversations.
Email is an area where I’ve embraced multiple-tools.
Email is often the genesis of these cards. Sometimes I realize I’m writing the same thing more than once to different people, so it’d be neat to be able to just post a URL (which also lets me update and refine the idea later). Sometimes I just write something once and I think, "that should totally be a page!"
Email is great for building friendships over time. See also making-friends.
Inbox zero
I struggle with absolutes, but I’m getting better!
I’m a natural "inbox zero" person. An inbox that is not 100% empty feels like a "todo" list to me. Actually, it often is, literally, a todo list.
If somebody writes "I like your website", I get a feel-good boost and I reply "Thanks!" and maybe a follow-up question or comment about something specific.
(By the way, if you have a personal website, mention it when you email me! I LOVE checking out people’s websites! Alternatively, if you have a LinkedIn profile or business website, maybe keep it to yourself.)
The problem is, the quick-reply "inbox zero" mindset breaks down when I publish something new on the website and get a flurry of responses (where "flurry" is, like, 10 emails.) These are often filled with wonderful stuff like links to books, projects, and articles. I’m talking about really high quality messages. I enjoy them and they deserve a proper response.
What I’m trying to do now is respond quickly to let people know that I at least got the email. Then it sits in the inbox until I can give it proper consideration.
Prior to that, I’ve had two situations where some messages sat for up to six months without any response. Sorry. :-(
I’m also trying to get less compulsive about responding immediately to ongoing conversation emails as well. One of those can easily take 30-45 minutes to write, so I really can’t keep it up daily. And while hitting that tennis ball back over the net immediately feels good in the short term, I fear my responses aren’t as good as they would have been if I’d let myself think about it a little longer.
Versus chat
I guess chat is good for this, too, but I don’t seem to be very chat-compatible. I prefer the asynchronous expectation that comes with email. IRC-style chat is always happening and guess I’ve never been comfortable with dipping in and out, reading just snippets of a conversation and missing context. I’m the sort of person who likes to read everything. Probably to a fault. I never got into IRC or Twitter for that reason.
Update 2025 I’m chatting and tooting more these days. I’m literally re-training my brain to get better about dipping in and out of the flow of conversation and not worry about it so much. Like email, the ephemeral conversation format makes me think about things in a different way, which often results in new pages on this website or even whole projects.
Opinion: How to email
Email should always be plaintext. See: https://useplaintext.email/
(Don’t worry, I will read your HTML email, but you’ll be getting a text reply.)
Email replies should be inline with properly 'snipped' quotes.
(If you email me, you will be getting replies in this format. You can top-post your replies, but mine are going to keep coming back inline. As the conversation grows, you’ll probably find that it’s easier to keep responding to the various "threads" by replying to the specific inline bits, but feel free to do what works best for you. I really don’t mind. I promise, it’s totally fine.)