A review of the most interesting tweets, articles, posts and thoughts on innovation, co-creation and social media that I saw this week….

Is email DEAD? My students hate email: they txt whenever I turn my back and post on FB if their computer is open, but they check email once a day to see if their professor has sent something. It seems that email to them is as passé as voicemail (Does anyone under 27 listen to a voicemail?) So my question of the week was: HOW DEAD is email?? (5-10 years out…) Dead as buggy whips, landline phones, MySpace, pony express? Thoughts?

Interestingly the folks at #HigherEdChat ( @EffectiveBizDev ) picked a similar question for their weekly chat. They didn’t seem to post a transcript but from my recollection they noted that students used Facebook and texting more, but thought that email still had an important role in marketing universities to students and parents. [I suspect it may help with parents, but not with the students…]

 Summarizing the discussion that I generated

Most disagreed with the notion that email was “dying.” @Idennison said: Disagree; email did not result in the death of regular mail. I believe that email will be around for a long, long time. From beautiful Christchurch, NZ, scene of the recent devastation @marcelinnz reported: @ProfessorGary after the earthquakes we had here , we relied on email to communicate around the world.

@EeeGeee(aka @EffectiveBizDev) argued that it may email usage may be a rite of passage: As a college student I ignored promotional emails, but used it to contact profs, etc. Now, I live for email! I get valuable info from email blasts, newsletters, etc. and stay in contact w/ a lot of potential clients via email. @wileyccoyote supported the @NathanRKing observation that “Email has been consistent as social networks fade in and fade out of our lives.” @NathanRKing also noted that Social Networks depend on email to send notifications to users about direct messages, replies and more. @LynnHuber added: As long as FB, etc has the authority to ban people email will never die. The alternatives are too fragile. @aalabdulkarim agreed: Emails will not die – I can’t imagine an alternative.

And of course for business: Maybe I’m not using my imagination, but I still don’t see email dying out. What replaces it that corporate world will use? @shanerhyne

@MarkTamis reframed the issue: Email is not the issue as such, it is how to deal with events – synchronous and/or asynchronous and how to prioritize, filter, based on desired outcome. @ovoinnovation added: Email isn’t dead, just fills a less important, less immediate niche in our communications.

I guess I would acknowledge that email will continue sort of like post office – it is still there but virtually no one still sends personal letters. And of course business will not intermingle with FB, but more collaborative messaging will spread to biz as well. Most importantly, to people who grew up with SM email seems formal and spam-my.  

Finally: Are emails heading to voicemail-like extinction? Maybe good. UglyEmail Emails make you scream by @WareMalcombCMO

I continue to worry that the clout of Klout threatens Twitter – Beware of inadequate measures taken seriously! KloutTweet  (last week’s lead off) A couple views:

1. The full story in a picture!… Klout losing clout? The Problem with #Klout: Infographic AThousandWords RT @markwschaefer @michellegolden
2. Alternative to Klout?  Ooh, analytics. How I love thee…. Diggin’ @hootsuite‘s new reporting capes. Informed me. Happy client. KloutTweet via @jennyereynolds

Innovation articles or postings of interest this week:  

• Let Customers Destroy Internal Innovation Blockers CustomersLead via @gijsvanwulfen
• The “silo” problem: If solved at #GM, try a hospital or university! GM’s Ewanick tackles country silos Silos by @DavidAaker

Co-creation and effectuation

• Catch the Wave!! TheWave [Tuesday’s blog post] Technological change and user co-creation.
• Hit the workplace with a mind to jump on new prospects and feel the sheer joy of creating. SchirrJoy Forbes RT @ellenfweber
• Better than Lead users??? Donna Hoffmann’s Emergent Customers Emergent spot future waves RT @GrahamHill

Social Media Marketing  

• Why can’t we be friends? How Social Media is Helping Marketing, PR, and Sales Become Better Friends YCantWeBFriends 
• Can social/digital revive human marketplace? @mancevic reviews @garyvee‘s Thank You Economy TryALittleTenderness RT @ckburgess
• KFC shares Colonel Sanders stories via social networks – TheColonel
• What The Wire Can Teach Us about Social Media – Passion RT @DWesterberg
• SM (social media) adultery – Cheating, Incorporated – BusinessWeek AshleyMadison
• Our top story right now: “Foursquare 3.0 Has Arrived: Here’s What’s New” – 4Square4
• In the know: SocialMedia for Small Businesses: 10 Things You Must Do UMust via @IrinaJordan RT @ruhanirabin:
• Nice! A couple of social media freebies shared with my MBAs. Thx @aboyer! NoSuchThing RT @Clarity_Comm
• Introducing LinkedIn Today LIToday RT @margaretmolloy
• Social media marketing for businesses: stories you may have missed: SMM (via @SplashMediaLP) RT @KentHuffman @PaulSlack
• 78% use LinkedIn… Recruiters innovate as old methods prove frustrating Digital RT @daliabeyss
• Customer service in the clouds? Salesforce.com facilitates customer service via SM. CustomerService RT @goodnews2use
• 7 Missed Social Media Lead Generation Opportunities TakeTheLead @hubspot RT @EeeGeee
• Groupon Primes Itself to Be Next Zappos Groupies via @adage Why is good service so novel? RT @LaurelSchirr
• I recommend “Social Media Strategies for Professionals” by @michellegolden Should have read B4 I started blog-tweets!
• I am shocked, SHOCKED! @CharlieSheen doesn’t write own tweets!! GhostImbecile @AskAaronLee RT @ckburgess
• LinkedIn To Make Headlines LinkedIn (via @techcrunch) RT @EeeGeee