Facebook announced plans this month to offer users a fully functioning e-mail service that will be rolled out sometime in the coming weeks. Users will be able to get “@facebook.com” e-mail address, which will be able to receive messages from other e-mail service providers.
The e-mail service is being called a potential “Gmail killer.” The move is the latest in an ongoing duel between Facebook and Google, which says it will offer more social networking features in response to Facebook’s growing popularity.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Facebook’s foray into e-mail will increase healthy competition.
“More competition is always good because competition makes the market larger,” Schmidt told the Washington Post. “We are all well-served by having everybody online.”
The service will be able to pull in text messages and instant message chats, features that, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, will play an important role in electronic communication in the future.
“We don’t think a modern messaging system is going to be e-mail,” Zuckerberg said in a press statement.
Recent studies have shown that traditional e-mail is the primary mode of communication for older adults, while quicker forms of communication are becoming more important to young adults.
Text messaging has become the primary form of communication for U.S. teens, according to a 2009 Pew Internet and American Life Project survey. Teenagers use text messaging more than face-to-face conversations, phone calls, and e-mails.
The move has concerned privacy advocates. Facebook has stirred up recent controversy for distributing users’ personal information to advertisers. Some say giving Facebook access to a person’s e-mail messages creates and even greater treasure trove of private data that could be nefariously obtained.
“This opens up another door that allows it to closely track how their members communicate,” said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, in an interview with the Washington Post.
Some University of Maryland students opposed the idea of switching to the Facebook e-mail service. Some said a Facebook e-mail address would seem unprofessional, while others said they simply didn’t want to do the work of changing services.
Senior Mike Misulia said he is happy with his current e-mail service.
“I wouldn’t switch,” Misulia said. “I’m very comfortable with Gmail. I’m a traditionalist, and I hate change.”
Sophomore Lucas Moxley said he’d be wary of switching because of his prior experiences with Facebook.
“Facebook tends to like to change things on people, without users’ consent,” Moxley said. “They change their format and the way they work, and it gets annoying after awhile.”