The use of e-mail is having a great impact on society. The two most important times to use it are during work time and in our free time. If I think of using it in an office, I can see more advantages than disadvantages. First of all, it replaces a lot of phone calls because almost everybody prefers things that are written and not just said on the phone. If a problem occurs and you don’t have anything written, it’s hard to defend yourself. The other party can always deny having said something, and you will have problems.
Another good reason for using e-mail is that you can write whenever you have time, and the other person can also reply whenever he has time. It’s not necessary to be free and available at the same time to meet or to speak on the phone. When typing an agreement or a contract, you can enclose it in your e-mail for correction, saving a lot of time for both parties.
E-mail is a very fast way to work that reflects very well the nature of business today. If I have to find a disadvantage, I would say that you actually have less free time. Even at home, when you are waiting for some important answers, you tend to connect to your office e-mail and check to see if there is a reply.
The use of e-mails in free time also has some advantages. You can easily keep in touch with friends and family members. If I can give a personal example, I can say that now that I’m away from home, it helps me to keep in touch with people at home. You can also enclose digital photos so everybody can see how you are. Even the greatest distance becomes smaller.
The biggest problem is using all the new communication technology is, in my opinion (IMO), the lack of privacy. Everything that is written through the net or said on the phone can be easily intercepted by skilled people. There are different systems to intercept; “Carnivoz” can do it online line and “Achelon” through the phone. These are two important issues that appear frequently in the newspapers and are related to privacy.
I don’t know how many of us have big secrets to hide; I personally don’t mind if a person can go through thousands of messages and find out what I write, whether it’s something directed to my mum or related to my jog. However, I know that people at high levels need to pay attention to these matters.