Although email has only been with us a few short years it is difficult to remember what life was like before we were able to send messages to each other electronically. And most kids and teenagers cannot even imagine having to send letters to each other!

The benefits to us as a society are enormous. Email is cheaper of course and it is far easier to send messages than write a letter. Both of these benefits encourage us to write more frequently. Email can be used for almost any type of correspondence from booking apartments in Rome to keeping in touch with our Aunt in Australia; it connects us with family, friends and the world.

It is also instant, so we can expect to receive a reply within a much shorter time frame than with regular mail. However, there are also disadvantages to using email. The fact that it is instant means that we do expect instant replies. We feel under pressure to reply quickly and likewise we put other people under pressure to write to us.

We also send messages more indiscriminately than we used to. We used to only write letters if they had a purpose, such as to send information to friends and family or update them on our lives. Now we send each other messages on really trivial things such as buying cat food or going to the hairdresser.

And whatever happened to politeness? With email seen as a more informal means of communication, normal letter etiquette seems to have flown out of the window.