ConNiPtioNs

Penn State study: E-mail 'uncool', IM 'rulz'

University Park, Pa. -- A new generation of Internet users views e-mail as a relic of the past, preferring instant messaging (IM) for communication with their peers, according to a Penn State researcher.

“For the first time, a standard, everyday tool like e-mail is no longer being used by a specific youth culture,” says Steven L. Thorne, associate director of the Center for Language Acquisition in Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts.

These youths, roughly 18, 19 and 20 years old, are third-generation Internet users and to them, e-mail is akin to getting dressed up for a job interview, an uncomfortable formality to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
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