Stop Using Email?!

Can you believe someone saying: "I stopped using email!"?! Well, Luis Suarez just said it and he's doing it too. This is what he wrote:

Yes, I'm giving up on e-mail! At least, work related e-mail! That's right, this week I have launched a new experiment, or initiative, at work where I have diverted most of my conversations into social computing and social software tools, both internal and external.

You did what?!?! Yes, I surely did!! Just like you are reading it. Last Saturday I decided that enough was enough and I created a post in my internal blog where I was mentioning that from that day onwards I would not be answering any e-mails, nor write any e-mails myself either, but instead I would make the most out of social software tools and social computing, in general, to get in touch with other knowledge workers and collaborate further sharing and exchanging our knowledge over there.

I'm really curious how long he's going to keep up with it and what his experiences are. This experiment is really intriguing. It reminds me of the Wired article on the see-through CEO. Why have one-to-one conversations in email, when lots of stuff in email is interesting for many more people? Why not be more transparent and open?
It's a nice topic for a presentation. I know he is based in Amsterdam, so maybe we can organize something in The Netherlands soon, eh?
A list of tools Luis is using instead of email is also given. That's very helpful!

Luis has a second follow-up post on this topic, showing what it means to stop using emails and put conversations in the open for all to read and enjoy. He also addresses the question if all employees could actually do what he is doing. Could for instance "an IBM account team for a major client" also do this? Luis says "yes". Read his post to see why. It also addresses how social networking tools (as apposed to email?) can enhance face-to-face meetings. At least, reading less email will give us time to drink a cup of coffee with colleagues...

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