The Email Wars

Email: A New Target For The DEA

According to AOL Mail’s fourth annual Email Addiction Survey, 46% of email users said they’re hooked on email (up from just 15% last year) and 51% check their email four or more times a day. One in five said they check their email more than 10 times a day.

27% are so overwhelmed by their email that they’ve either declared “email bankruptcy,” deleting (or planning to) all their email messages to start anew. 20% of users said they have over 300 emails in their inboxes! 24% admit they’ve signed up for a new email address to start fresh. 69% of email users said they have multiple email accounts, up from 52% in 2007.

Regina Lewis, AOL Online Consumer Advisor, noted that “We really do live in a 24-7 society and it’s not uncommon to be online and checking email at all hours of the day…”

88% of respondents said that they pay attention to spelling and punctuation when writing emails, and 68% said emails with spelling and punctuation errors annoyed them. 74% said they excuse errors when emails are sent from a mobile device like a BlackBerry or iPhone.

62% of at-work email users said they check their work email over a typical weekend, and 19% check email five or more times in a weekend. 28% said they feel obligated to check work email while on vacation, and 19% choose vacation spots with email access.

More than 50% said they check their email while on vacation. It’s even higher among mobile users. Seventy-eight percent of those who have a mobile device check email while on vacation.

Twenty-three percent said they check their email as soon as they wake up, followed by right when they get home from work (11%) and right after dinner (9%).

Among email users, 16% said they check their email from a mobile device and 55% said they upgraded to a new cell phone in the last year so they could get their email while on-the-go. 30% of mobile email users said that since getting a mobile device with email capabilities they feel “married to the office.”

41% of mobile email users said they keep their cell phones near them when they sleep so they can hear when a new email comes in. 49% of mobile email users said they check their email every single time a new message arrives.

People today check their email:

In bed in their pajamas: 67%

From the bathroom: 59%

While driving: 50%

In a bar or club: 39%

In a business meeting: 38%

During happy hour: 34%

While on a date: 25%

From church: 15%

Of those surveyed, 60% said they’ve never gone more than 5 days without checking email and 17% can’t go more than one day without email. They’re so hooked that 11% have even hidden the fact that they’re checking email from a spouse or family member.

For more complete data, please visit AOL here.