Tait's+Ethnography+of++Networked+Screens

Email Use among Students at UW-Madison**  __Research Question__
 * Ethnography of Networked Screens:

How have changes in internet accessibility, device mobility, and transcformations in email client protocol affected the type of email client that students use at UW-Madison?

__What effects the geography of email?__ >> >> IMAP vs. POP >> >> media type="youtube" key="ptIbMtFZz6c" height="305" width="383" align="left"
 * Wi-Fi - allows for email users to access email from anywhere they have an internet connection
 * Smart Phone - it's not necessary to carry a laptop or only access the internet from a home computer
 * Email Client Protocol
 * POP - Post Office Protocol
 * IMAP - Internet Message Access Protocol

__What are the most popular email clients?__ > > > > [] > __Reseach__ I conducted my research by surveying students at UW-Madison. Survey were handed out in the library, the union, and classes. One hundred surveys were completed. Each survey consisted of four questions and they were written as follows:
 * See if you can guess the top email client being used as of Janruary 2010 by clicking on the //Top Email Client Use// link below.
 * Email Stats and Reports -provides an up to date account of the changes in users accessing their email clients. Which email clientes are increasing in popularity? Decreasing?
 * 1) What email client(s) do you use for school/personal use? (Check all that apply)
 * WiscMail
 * Yahoo! Mail
 * Outlook
 * Hotmail
 * Gmail
 * AOL
 * Apple Mail
 * Other
 * 1) If you checked something other than WiscMail, what made you choose that email client? (Check all that apply)
 * It was your first email account
 * Ease of use
 * Friends/Family also use it
 * It has features that other email clients don't have
 * Other
 * 1) Where do you access your email from? (Check all that apply)
 * Personal Computer
 * Work Computer
 * Campus Computer(s)
 * Phone
 * Other
 * 1) On average, how many times do you check your email in a day?
 * 1-2
 * 3-4
 * 5-6
 * More than 6

__ Survey Results __

See all the results of my research below by clicking on the //Survey Results (Email Use)// link.



The respondents to my survey left me with some anticipated and some noteworthy results. The email client used most frequently was, by far, WiscMail with an over 80% usage rate. Gmail accounted for use among 45% of the population. Hotmail and Yahoo! were used among 25% and 23% of the population respectively. At least one-third of the users said they chose these email clients because it was their first account, friends/family also used it, and/or the client was easy to use. Almost all respondents (97%) said they accessed the email client from their personal computer. Other responses included access from campus computers (61%), work computers (29%), and smart phones (27%). Email was accessed by 68% of respondents an averaged of 5 or more times a day; even more notable, 96% of responses indicated that users accessed their email more than three times per day. One last result that I gathered from my data indicated that more than two-thirds of respondents used multiple email clients on a regular basis.

__Ana​lysis__  I had seen as most prevalent and salient effects of email use related to geography. Geographic mobility and mobile computing has become more efficient and effective at providing access to users. The decreasing importance of geography as it relates to the internet/email use is fueled by advancements and the creation of Wi-Fi, wireless internet capabilities, laptops, smart phones, etc. An example of this mobility is cloud computing. This concept, very much related to IMAP, keeps information in a centralized location so it is accessible anywhere. Geographic mobility has also led to Web 4.0 in which technology and humans become one. Email access has exploded and my survey results showed that 98% of students check their email more than three times in one day. These students also check their email from a variety of locations as compared to one computer. Since technology is now accessible from almost any location people become one with that continuous connectivity. The development of the internet and email has really de-centered activities and allowed information to transcend spaces.

Changes in internet accessibility, device mobility, and transformations in email client protocol have, indeed, affected the type of email client that students use at UW-Madison. Further research could examine a population less isolated than UW students. I would expect that, although my results are not universal, the trend I found would apply to many other populations. Technology is vastly shaping everyone’s way of life and, in turn, we are shaping the innovations to technology.