Everywhere I look, people are dumping on email, and it’s really starting to get annoying. Maybe annoying isn’t the right word, but it’s definitely tiresome. Imagine always being one of the few kids to stand up for the poor little abused dork on the playground. Email is that dork, and I am its champion.

Twitter is the latest contender vying for the chance to shove email marketing out of favor and secure a coveted top spot as an advertising tool on the web. Laughable, really. Does anyone seriously anticipate Twitter replacing email enough to change email marketing significantly?

Twitter is to email what text messages are to phone calls. Twitter is fun and fast and great for quick little updates or random, off the cuff comments, but useless for serious discussion, conversation or messaging. Twittering is like texting; great for fluffy conversations with friends, but too frivolous and insincere for anything of great importance.

Real communication requires time, space and attention, none of which is afforded by Twitter. So there really is no hope of Tweets becoming the next generation of emails. Again, they are a different method of communication, with a different goal and end result than email. Twitter has strengths and weaknesses like any other channel of communication.

So does Twitter provide any value for marketing? Absolutely, but I don’t think people will be following brands and receiving mobile updates on promotions. Twitter has great potential for viral and word of mouth marketing, but its best hope for becoming part of the marketing mix is alongside email, not opposite it.