A new report from ComScore has revealed that total web email usage was down by 8% in the United States over the past year, with teenagers ditching email at the highest rate.
The report shows that for those users between the ages of 12 and 17, usage was down by a massive 49%. Usage was down 1% among 18 to 24-year-olds, and 18% among 25 to 35-year-olds.
Usage was also down by 8% among 35 to 44-year-olds and 12% among 45-54-year-olds.
The survey also found that younger users are now spending more of their time on social networks, representing just under 15% of all the time they spend online.
The survey comes just weeks after Facebook released its new messaging system that combines email, instant messaging and text messaging. At the time, the company said it would be easy to envisage a world where email is no longer used.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
