The new email?

My poor Gmail account is a little lonely these days. Why? Because of Facebook. I hadn't really thought about it until last night when I heard some friends talking and one said, "Call me; don't use Facebook." In the past, a comment like this would have gone, "Call me; don't email."

In contrast to my email account, my Facebook account has been seeing a lot of activity lately. Not necessarily in messages, but because of the flexibility of Facebook, I've shared and viewed a lot more photos, movie reviews, and short comments with friends than I ever did using email.

Three of the most important things for an online tool are: ease of use, flexibility, and ubiquity (at least among your friends). Facebook has always been easy to use, and is growing rapidly in flexibility and in membership. MySpace started this process, and they were lucky enough to get a generation named after them, but at this moment, in my opinion, Facebook is the superior online community.

That's why, in spite of my empty Gmail inbox, I'm not worried about my popularity standing just yet.