E-mail survey sends surprise results

A lot of people are fed up with spam flooding their e-mail in-boxes, but the workplace seems to have been spared the onslaught.

About 71 percent of workers who use e-mail say relatively few of the messages they receive on the job are junk mail, according to a survey being released today by the Pew Internet & American Life Project (www.pewinternet.org).

In fact, the survey's finding surprised Pew researchers, who expected "a backlash against e-mail -- not just against spam, but also against the rising volume of all kinds of e-mail," according to the organization.

Instead, 52 percent say e-mail is essential for their jobs, and few rated it a waste of time. The volume of e-mail also seemed surprising, with 60 percent saying they receive 10 or fewer messages a day, 78 percent reporting that they send 10 or fewer a day, and 73 percent saying they spend an hour or less a day handling e-mail.

Other findings from the survey:

-- Only 11 percent said they send more than 20 messages a day.

-- 58 percent say most of the messages they send are related to work, but 39 percent have sent jokes or chain letters.

-- 26 percent have used it to discuss their personal life, and 15 percent gossip about work electronically.

On what the report calls "the darker side," 22 percent reported that e-mail caused misunderstandings, 28 percent find it distracting, and 23 percent say it increases stress.

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