I sent, in 2019, an average of 47 personal emails a day. I sent, in 2025, an average of 4. The other 43 communications moved to Slack (work), iMessage (friends in North America), WhatsApp (my grandmother in Lyon), and Signal (sources I am protecting for a story I will probably never publish). The personal email inbox is, in 2026, a notification channel for receipts and bank statements. The real conversation, in 2026, happens in DMs.
The shift happened, between 2020 and 2024, with the same quiet accumulation as the phone-charging shift. Below is what happened, in roughly chronological order. I have changed my mind about several things I used to believe about email. I have opinions on what to skip. There is a brief history of how the email inbox went from the central nervous system of office work in 1995 to a junk drawer in 2026. And there is, at the end, an honest summary — because anyone who tells you email is "the future of communication" has not, in fact, looked at their inbox recently.
The list: how email died
1. Slack launched in 2014 and replaced internal email. Slack launched in August 2014 as a tool for internal team communication. By 2020, Slack was, by every enterprise software ranking, the most-used internal communication tool in the corporate world. The average Slack-using office worker sends, by 2024 standards, 23 Slack messages per workday. The same worker sent, by 2014 standards, 45 internal emails per workday. Slack replaced, in the corporate world, the internal email. Internal email is, in 2026, a backup channel for Slack outages.
2. Microsoft Teams launched in 2017 and replaced the meeting email. Teams launched in March 2017 as Microsoft's answer to Slack. Teams is, by 2024 standards, the dominant enterprise communication tool in Fortune 500 companies that use Microsoft 365. Teams replaced, in the corporate world, the meeting email. The meeting email is, in 2026, "for external clients who do not have Teams."
3. Discord launched in 2015 and replaced the group email. Discord launched in May 2015 as a chat tool for gamers. By 2023, Discord was, by every metric, the dominant platform for hobby communities, friend groups, and creator fanbases. Discord replaced, in the personal world, the group email. The group email is, in 2026, the channel for parents who do not know how to use Discord.
4. iMessage became the default for North American teens. iMessage launched in 2011 as the iPhone's native messaging app. By 2024, iMessage was, by every Pew Research measurement, the default communication channel for U.S. teens and young adults. The iMessage-to-Android ratio in U.S. high schools was, by 2024, 87%. The email-to-iMessage ratio was, by 2024, the inverse. The teen email inbox is, in 2026, a forgotten app.
5. WhatsApp became the default for the rest of the world. WhatsApp launched in 2009 and was acquired by Facebook in 2014. By 2024, WhatsApp was, by every measurement, the dominant messaging platform in Latin America, Europe, India, and Africa. WhatsApp is, by my standard, the only way to communicate with my grandmother in Lyon — she does not have email, she does not have iMessage, she has WhatsApp. WhatsApp is, in 2026, the email of the global south.
7. Signal launched in 2014 and became the default for sensitive communication. Signal launched in 2014 as an encrypted messaging app. By 2024, Signal was, by every journalist I know, the default communication channel for sensitive conversations — sources, lawyers, doctors, accountants. Signal replaced, in the privacy-conscious world, the secure email. The secure email is, in 2026, the channel for people who have not heard of Signal.
The numbers
The shift is, by every data point, real.
Email volume peaked around 2020. The Radicati Group — the industry standard for email statistics — reported approximately 306 billion emails sent per day in 2020. The same group reported approximately 333 billion emails sent per day in 2024. The +27 billion increase is, by my reading, almost entirely automated: notifications, receipts, password resets, shipping confirmations, marketing emails. The personal email is, by 2026, a smaller percentage of total email volume than at any point since 1995.
Office worker email volume declined. The average U.S. office worker received, per a 2018 McKinsey study, 121 emails per day. The same worker receives, per a 2024 Statista analysis, 88 emails per day. The -33 emails per day is, by my reading, almost entirely internal email that moved to Slack and Teams. External email — to clients, vendors, and external contacts — has held roughly steady.
Personal email volume declined faster. I sent, between 2019 and 2025, an average of 47 personal emails per day. I sent, in 2025, an average of 4 personal emails per day. The -43 emails per day is, by my standard, the entire social network I used to email moving to iMessage, WhatsApp, and Signal. The personal email is, in 2026, the equivalent of the landline — present, technically functional, but rarely used for the purpose it was designed for.
What I have changed my mind about
A few beliefs I held in 2010, when I sent my first professional email, that the last sixteen years have killed.
I used to think email was the default. The default was, in 2010, email. The default is, in 2026, DM. I have, in 2026, four messaging apps on my phone's home screen — iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack, Signal — and email is, in 2026, in a folder. The inbox was, in 2010, the central nervous system of communication. The inbox is, in 2026, a notification channel.
I used to think email was free. Email was, between 1995 and 2015, free. The labor cost of email — the time spent sorting, archiving, replying — was hidden. The labor cost of email is, in 2026, very visible. The average office worker spends, by 2024 standards, 2.4 hours per day on email. The 2.4 hours is, by my standard, the most expensive tax in the modern knowledge economy. The DM is, by 2026 standards, the only communication channel that has solved this problem — DMs are, by 2026 standards, real-time, ephemeral, and conversational.
I used to think email was professional. Email was, in 2005, the most professional communication channel available. Email is, in 2026, the most unprofessional — every senior executive I know uses Slack or Teams for internal communication. Email is, in 2026, the channel for the most junior person in the chain of command. The DM is, by 2026 standards, the professional channel.
I used to think I needed an inbox-zero system. I tried, between 2014 and 2022, every inbox-zero system — Inbox by Gmail (2015), Superhuman (2017), Hey (2020), Sanebox ($7/month). None of them worked. None of them worked because the inbox was, by 2022, no longer the primary channel. The DM is, in 2026, the only channel I have tried to make "inbox zero" for, because the DM is, in 2026, the channel that matters.
I used to think email was the same as "communication." It is not. Email is a notification channel. Communication is a conversation. Email has, since 1995, been optimized for the former, not the latter. The DM is, in 2026, the only channel that has been optimized for the conversation.
What to skip when building your communication stack
If I were advising a friend who was building their first communication stack in 2026, I would tell them to skip these categories entirely.
Superhuman. Superhuman ($30/month, launched 2017) is the most expensive email client in the industry. Superhuman is, in 2026, a beautifully designed inbox for an inbox that does not need to be beautiful. The inbox is, in 2026, a notification channel. The DM is, in 2026, the channel where the conversation happens. Skip the Superhuman.
Hey. Hey ($99/year, launched 2020) is, by my standard, the most thoughtful email redesign of the 2020s. Hey is also, in 2026, irrelevant to my daily communication. The Hey redesign was, in 2020, ahead of its time. The Hey redesign is, in 2026, five years late — the conversation has already moved to DMs.
Email newsletters (for keeping up). The email newsletter was, between 2015 and 2022, the dominant format for keeping up with Substacks, podcasts, and creators. The email newsletter is, in 2026, competing with RSS readers, Discord servers, and private DMs. Subscribe to the newsletter if you want the full archive. Skip the newsletter if you want the highlights — the highlights are, in 2026, on the platform.
Slack, Teams, or Discord for personal communication. The personal communication channel is, in 2026, iMessage or WhatsApp. The work communication channel is, in 2026, Slack or Teams. The hobby community channel is, in 2026, Discord. Do not mix them. Do not use Slack for personal communication. Do not use iMessage for work communication. The mixing is, in 2026, the most common communication mistake.
Email signatures. The 12-line email signature with the headshot, the social media links, the disclaimer, and the company logo is, in 2026, an outdated 2010s artifact. The DM signature is, in 2026, a single line — usually your name, sometimes your role, rarely a logo. Skip the signature.
Anything that asks "did you get my email?" The email was, in 2005, the only channel. The DM is, in 2026, the only channel. If someone asks "did you get my email?" they are, in 2026, asking the wrong question. The right question is, in 2026, "did you see my Slack?" or "did you see my message?"
A brief history
Email is, by every measure, a 20th-century invention. The first email was sent, by Ray Tomlinson, in 1971, between two machines sitting next to each other at ARPANET. The @ symbol in email addresses was, in 1971, Tomlinson's idea. The @ symbol is, in 2026, still the most recognized punctuation mark on the internet.
The mid-1990s was, by 1995 standards, the golden age of email. The email client — Eudora, Pine, Netscape Mail — was, by 1995 standards, the most important software on the personal computer. The email inbox was, by 1995 standards, the central nervous system of professional communication. The "You've got mail" sound was, by 1995 standards, the most satisfying sound in the office.
The webmail era — Hotmail (1996), Yahoo Mail (1997), Gmail (2004) — was, in some sense, the peak of email's cultural relevance. Gmail launched on April 1, 2004, with 1 GB of free storage (compared to the 2-6 MB offered by Hotmail and Yahoo). Gmail was, by 2004 standards, the most ambitious email product ever built. Gmail is, in 2026, the dominant email client for personal email.
The internal-email-replacement era — Slack (2014), Microsoft Teams (2017), Discord (2015) — was, by 2020 standards, the moment email lost its central role in the office. By 2022, the average Fortune 500 company had replaced the majority of internal email with Slack or Teams. By 2024, the same was true for medium-sized businesses. By 2026, internal email is, in most workplaces, the channel for external clients.
The personal-DM era — iMessage (2011), WhatsApp (2009), Signal (2014) — was, by 2024 standards, the moment email lost its central role in personal life. The teen demographic shifted first, between 2015 and 2020. The adult demographic followed, between 2020 and 2024. By 2026, the personal email inbox is, in the developed world, a notification channel.
Gmail's "Inbox by Gmail" launched in 2015 as Google's attempt to fix the email overload problem. Google shut down Inbox by Gmail in April 2019. The shutdown was, in my standard, the moment Google admitted that the inbox could not be fixed — the inbox had, by 2019, become a notification channel for automated messages. The inbox had, by 2019, lost the personal conversation.
Hey.com launched in June 2020 as an email service designed to fix the inbox-overload problem. Hey is, in 2026, the most thoughtfully designed email service available. Hey is also, in 2026, a service for the people who want email to work the way email used to work. The people who want email to work the way email used to work are, in 2026, a small and shrinking demographic.
The honest summary
Email is, in 2026, a notification channel. The conversation is, in 2026, in DMs. The inbox is, in 2026, the channel for receipts, bank statements, and password resets. Everything else is, in 2026, somewhere else.
What works for me: iMessage for friends and family in North America, WhatsApp for my grandmother in Lyon and friends in Europe, Slack for work, Signal for sensitive conversations. That is it. The email inbox is, in 2026, the channel for the four personal emails I send per day.
What does not work for me, and may not work for you: the idea that email is still the default communication channel. The default was, in 2010, email. The default is, in 2026, DM. The email industry is, in 2026, the most successful category of software at being ignored. The honest summary is, in the end, this: the email industry is selling archiving. The DM, when chosen correctly, does not.
Sixteen years in, my communication stack is, by my standard, more functional than it was when I started. I have spent, in those sixteen years, approximately $1,200 on email and communication software. I could have spent approximately $0 and had the same conversation. The math is, by any honest accounting, embarrassing. The math is also, in the end, the only thing that matters.