12 Reasons Skype is Better than E-mail

After working hard to clear out my e-mails, and even now trying to cut down on the messages that are left (do I really need to keep over 1000 messages from my StumbleUpon inbox?), I’ve come to a conclusion.

(Sounds of impending doom music playing in the background.) I don’t like using e-mail!

There, I’ve said it! And I refuse to take it back.

I don’t know if it’s all introverts or if it’s just me, but when I have to send an e-mail, I can agonize over it for hours, even if it’s just something as simple as “Just wanted to let you know I’m thinking about you.” Okay, maybe not that simple, but you get the idea.

My drafts folder on my e-mail has over 500 partly or even completely written messages, most getting put on hold when I got tired of agonizing over them, and I eventually forgot

about sending the message.

(I think drafts is another folder I can clean out, what do you think?)

So, to that end, I’m trying to convince everyone to start contacting me on Skype chat instead.

I love using Skype, especially since I’ve downgraded it back to version 3.8. I’m so grateful to Brian Wallace at Nowsourcing for his idea to do that!

Skype 4.0 is nice, but a little icon on my toolbar and a box popping up for a few seconds isn’t nearly enough notice for me that someone’s sent me a message.

With that said, here are the reasons I love Skype:

1. Skype is fast
2. Skype let’s us chat in real time
3. If our conversation needs to advance to a phone call, it’s simple to do, without having to exchange phone numbers first
4. Even on the phone, we can exchange notes over Skype.
5. Video chat
6. Skype works well for group chat or individual conversations.
7. You can send files over Skype.
8. Skype saves your chat history
9. Depending on their settings, you can tell when a friend is available.
10. From tapps via Twitter: Skype allows sarcasm to be expressed and not offend.
11. From snookfisherman via Twitter: It’s better than the phone.
12. Personal reason: I’ll catch and respond to Skype messages before I’ll catch a message in my Inbox.

What do you think? Do you prefer e-mail? Skype? Another program? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

By the way, if you want to add me on Skype, I’m Teegers1. Tell me you read this post and I’ll be sure to follow you back.