"Some 42% of online Americans use instant messaging, and 24% of instant messagers say they use IM more frequently than email. This translates to 53 million American adults who instant message and over 12 million who IM more than emailing. On a typical day, 29% of instant messengers—or roughly 15 million American adults—use IM. - SNT Report

Thanks to Riaan and Tris for pointing that out. I'm using IM more and more and e-mail less and less and have been trying to think of a way to use IM and wikis ( and IRC even) rather than e-mail for the majority of my contact. The trick isn't so much convincing other people to use these tools with me, I think the hard part is with people I might want to contact. Right now I use e-mail mostly as storage of info, something that can be done much better with a wiki, and for trying to contact someone about something right this minute, something that can be done better with IM. I'm trying to put the pieces together and will let you know when I have a clearer plan but I'm definitely actively trying to move away from e-mail as a daily communication tool.