Facebook e-mail accounts won’t make much change

The fact that Facebook is revamping its messaging system is no cause for alarm or uproar.

First of all, the concern that it’ll put a nail in the coffin of traditional e-mail services like Gmail and Yahoo is a bit superfluous. Imagine e-mailing a future employer about a job inquiry from your Facebook account. He or she then clicks on your profile and sees your whole online life, the good, the bad and the ugly. Should you have to censor everything you or someone else posts on Facebook because you are now giving unwanted guests an invitation to view it? No. For this reason people will continue to use those traditional e-mail services. It’s less intrusive and generally looks more professional than a Facebook account e-mail address.

The resolve for concerns over privacy online is basic: Don’t put things on your page that you don’t want the world knowing. People have been warned about this, but still they insist on updating their statuses every two seconds with information the world shouldn’t know.

Some people voice irrational concerns just to stir a discussion about technology taking over our lives. Why can’t we sit through a 50-minute class or meal with our friends without checking our phones? I think this is the more important issue at hand.

Editor's note: This letter refers to this column.