Culture Shift: Survey Says Canadians Now Prefer Sharing Email Address First, Not Phone Number

Call me? Not as likely as it once was, according to a new survey from Yahoo! Canada and Research House suggesting that Canadians’ personal email addresses are now the new telephone numbers of the 21st century.

The study shows that one-third (32 per cent) say their personal email address is the primary piece of information they provide when meeting someone for the first time, compared to only 18 per cent who opt for their home phone number and 12 per cent who give out their cell phone number. In fact, when it comes to Canadians’ personal life, over three-quarters (77 per cent) cite having a personal email address as important, and 2 in 3 (66 per cent) agree that the email name or handle that people choose reveals something about their personality, style or intentions.

“Let’s face it, emailing has emerged as our primary and defining point of contact, both on and offline,” says Kerry Munro, General Manager, Yahoo! Canada. “Personal email is our virtual hello and handshake – it’s our accepted passport to meeting new people and a lot more telling than trading meaningless digits.”

The survey results come on the heels of Yahoo! Canada’s recent announcement about the global availability of two new email domains – ymail.com and rocketmail.com – giving users the chance to register for the email address or Yahoo! ID they have always wanted. With these two new email domain choices, Yahoo! is making millions of new email addresses available to the online community.

Personal Change is Good

Interestingly, the study showed that Canadians change their personal email address an average of 4.3 times over the course of their life. Why are we making changes? Switching email service providers and avoiding spam were the top two cited reasons at 50 per cent and 30 per cent respectively. Other reasons included needing a new address for family purposes (14 per cent), looking for a new job (10 per cent), matters of the heart such as marriage or divorce / ending a relationship (9 per cent), and starting a new business (8 per cent).

And while over one-quarter (28 per cent) of Canadians still struggle with obtaining their preferred personal email name, close to half of us (44 per cent) consider the most important attribute of an email address to be that it’s easy to remember. Somewhat surprisingly, only 23 per cent of Canadians thought it most important to have their name explicitly stated in their personal email.

Lack of Work Email Etiquette?

While over half of Canadians (59 per cent) say a major reason they maintain a personal email address is because they are reluctant to use their company’s email system for correspondence that they wish to keep private, the facts suggest that Canadians continue to take their chances and send an average of 2.6 personal messages from their work email addresses every day – with 7 per cent of us admitting to sending ten or more!

And despite the vast majority (89 per cent) of Canadians being aware that employers have the legal right to archive and monitor employee email transmissions, 30 per cent say they know someone who has been disciplined by their employer for sending an inappropriate email from work.

Email and Workplace Attitudes

• 51 per cent of Canadians with workplace email say their employer has a policy about how employees may use the company’s email system.
• 34 per cent of Canadians believe their employer checks employee email boxes from time to time.
• Only half (52 per cent) of Canadians believe a company should have the right to search employees’ emails.
• 43 per cent think it’s possible that their email has been forwarded to others (inside or outside of work) without their knowledge.
• While three-quarters (74 per cent) say they are always careful about what they write in emails, 35 per cent believe an email sent from work can possibly come back to haunt or embarrass them.
• Two-fifths (39 per cent) have relied on personal email when the company network has been down.

Users can learn more about and register for a new email at ymail.com and rocketmail.com at mail.yahoo.ca.

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