Email Trumps Coffee, Chocolate, and Even Spouses/Significant Others

New online survey results on the role of email in modern life suggests that almost 75 percent of email users see the communication technology as essential to their lives, and some are willing to give up their Spouse/Significant Other for a day in order to check their Inbox! The survey questioned 10,000 people and was conducted by IncrediMail, a company that provides internet consumer products and services. Here's a summary description of their results:

People around the world have come to rely on email as an essential means of communication, a fact that was reinforced by the survey's respondents; a resounding 73.8% think that email is essential to their life. When asked what they would rather give up for a day instead of losing email, the surveyed said that they would rather forego chocolate (54.4%), coffee (50.2%), television (41.4%), their cell phone (38.4%) or their spouse/significant other (14.9%) than email.
Beyond sending plain messages, more and more people are emphasizing what they are trying to communicate via email by boosting their messages with images, emoticons and animations. Nearly 90% of the respondents have included images in their emails to enhance the message and more than 90% have used an emoticon, smiley face or an animated character in an email to achieve the same affect.
According to the survey, email is often used as a way to handle both lighthearted and delicate conversations. Nearly 50% of respondents have used an email to prank or joke with a friend or colleague. 19% of those surveyed have started or advanced a romantic relationship via email, while 7% have ended a relationship the same way. Similarly, 3.7% of respondents have ended a business relationship by firing someone through email.

(Image of Laptop User by striatic, CC 2.0)