Enter Your E-mail Address: How German Internet Users Manage their E-mail Addresses

Abstract

Writing E-mail is the most popular Internet activity. Meanwhile, many people have more than one E-mail address. The question how people manage their E-mail addresses, more specifically, whether they use them deliberately for different purposes, is the central question of this paper. E-mail addresses vary in the amount of identifying information they convey (e.g., name, gender, status). It is proposed that the amount of identifying information an email address contains is a predictor of usage for a specific purpose. However, it is assumed that not all people choose email addresses in a rational way, according to the optimal fit between amount of identifying information and purpose of the E-mail. Thus, the role of other factors is tested as well. An online survey on German Internet users showed that it is common to have more than one E-mail address. Especially free webmail addresses (freemail) are extremely popular. People used more anonymous E-mail addresses when they expected spam or were concerned about privacy. However, there were also interindividual differences in the management of E-mail addresses.