You've Got Mail!

Do you use your computer to send or receive email? This has become one of the most popular uses of the Internet.

In order to use email (electronic mail), you must have an email address. Many different websites offer email addresses, which usually don't cost anything. If you get one through Google, your email address will be something like yourname@gmail.com. (@ stands for at). If you get your email address through AOL, it would be something like yourname@aol.com.

Email Facts

• It is estimated that about 200 billion email messages are sent per day. That would be about 2 million emails per second. Of the 200 billion emails sent each day, about 70% are spam or viruses. That means for every 100 emails sent to your email address, 70 are junk emails and only 30 are messages from family and friends.
• About one out of every six people, or 1.2 billion people, worldwide is an email user.

Email User

When you click on your email account by using your Internet browser, you might find new email in your inbox. The email could be a note from a friend, an invitation to a party, or even pictures of your baseball game. Email is also a way to keep in touch with family and friends who live in a different city, or even a different country. If your grandparents can't come to your birthday party, wouldn't it be a nice surprise for them to get an email thank-you note from you with pictures of your birthday party attached?

Some people get hundreds of emails every day!

People have gotten so used to the speed of email that they sometimes call regular mail snail mail, because it is so slow to arrive.