Americans use Voice over Email as Means of Communication with Family

Americans Use Voice Over Email, Text and Social Network/Media as Means of Communication Between Family According to New Survey from Rebtel - Email leads as preferred work colleague communication.

Ever wonder to what extent advances in communications have impacted the lives of family members across America? Not as much as you would think, asserts Rebtel, the world’s largest independent mobile VoIP company, who today announced the first part of a two-part survey. The first part of the survey was conducted online on their behalf by Harris Interactive in May 2011 among 2,361 U.S. adults aged 18+.

The survey focused on two specific questions related to communication methods, including:

Methods of communication (other than in person) online U.S. adults use to communicate with certain people
One method of communication (other than in person) online U.S. adults would choose to communicate with certain people

According to the study, 93% of online U.S. adults use some method of communicating with family other than in person, and a vast majority (81%) of them claim they use voice/phone to keep in touch. 92% of online U.S. adults also use some method of communicating with friends other than in-person, with nearly three out of four (74%) who do so choosing voice/phone.

Surprisingly, voice/phone is also popular when it comes to staying in touch with a spouse or a significant other. 85% of online adults who communicate with a spouse/significant other (other than in person) choose voice, far surpassing text/SMS (58%) and email (56%), which came in a distant second and third respectively. Voice/Phone was also the clear favorite among online U.S. adults who communicate with others (other than in person) if they could only choose one method of communication to various groups, claiming the #1 spot in three of the four groups outlined (friends, family, and spouse/significant other).

“Modern communication methods such as Video calling, Social Networking, IM, and Email have all made a tremendous impact on our social behavior, however today’s results are a tell-tale sign that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and nothing comes close to replacing the familiar sound of a loved ones voice at the other end of the line,” said Andreas Bernstrom, CEO of Rebtel.

Here’s a breakdown of the findings:

Methods of communication (other than in person) U.S. adults use to communicate:

Overall, 92% of American adults communicate with friends other than in person. Among those that do:

82% use email
74% use voice/phone
61% use social network/media (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn)
57% use text/SMS messaging
29% use instant messaging
9% use video chat (e.g., Skype)
9% use microblogs (e.g., Twitter)
4% use some other method (other than in person)

Overall, 93% of American adults communicate with family (other than in person). Among those that do:

81% use voice/phone
80% use email
57% use text/SMS messaging
51% use social network/media (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn)
20% use instant messaging
13% use video chat (e.g., Skype)
4% use microblogs (e.g., Twitter)
4% use some other method (other than in person)

Overall, 61% of American adults communicate with a spouse/significant other (other than in person). Among those that do:

85% use voice/phone
58% use text/SMS messaging
56% use email
23% use social network/media (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn)
16% use instant messaging
6% use video chat (e.g., Skype)
3% use microblogs (e.g., Twitter)
3% use some other method (other than in person)

Overall, 58% of American adults communicate with work colleagues (other than in person). Among those that do:

73% use email
71% use voice/phone
44% use text/SMS messaging
28% use social network/media (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn)
17% use instant messaging
4% use video chat (e.g., Skype)
4% use microblogs (e.g., Twitter)
3% use some other method (other than in person)

One method of communication (other than in person) U.S. adults would choose to communicate with certain people

Among those that communicate with friends other than in person, if they had to choose only one method to communicate with friends, the results show:

38% would choose voice/phone
23% would choose email
18% would choose text/SMS messaging
15% would choose social network/media (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn)
4% would choose instant messaging
1% would choose video chat (e.g., Skype)
1% would choose microblogs (e.g., Twitter)
1% would choose some other method (other than in person)

Among those that communicate with family other than in person, if they had to choose only one method to communicate with family, the results show:

58% would choose voice/phone
17% would choose email
12% would choose text/SMS messaging
6% would choose social network/media (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn)
3% would choose video chat (e.g., Skype)
2% would choose instant messaging
0% would choose microblogs (e.g., Twitter)
1% would choose some other method (other than in person)

Among those that communicate with their spouse/significant other (other than in person), if they had to choose only one method to communicate with their spouse/significant other, the results show:

69% would choose voice/phone
14% would choose text/SMS messaging
9% would choose email
2% would choose social network/media (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn)
2% would choose instant messaging
1% would choose video chat (e.g., Skype)
0% would choose microblogs (e.g., Twitter)
2% would choose some other method (other than in person)

Among those that communicate with their work colleagues (other than in person), if they had to choose only one method to communicate with their work colleagues, the results show:

43% would choose email
33% would choose voice/phone
12% would choose text/SMS messaging
6% would choose social network/media (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn)
5% would choose instant messaging
0% would choose video chat (e.g., Skype)
0% would choose microblogs (e.g., Twitter)
1% would choose some other method (other than in person)

Harris Interactive® fielded the study on behalf of Rebtel from May 17th -19th, 2011 via its Harris Poll QuickQuerySM online omnibus service, interviewing a nationwide sample of 2,361 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Eric Gonzalez at eric(at)vscconsulting(dot)com. [Source]

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