Email can be a great tool in helping us multitask and set our own timetables for communicating with friends, family and co-workers. But lately, I've noticed a growing email backlash.

I have written before about companies imposing 'no email Fridays' or weekends to encourage more face-to-face and phone contact between co-workers. Lars Dalgaard, founder and chief executive of SuccessFactors, a California human-resource management software concern with nearly 1,000 workers, recently sent an email to employees banning in-house email for an entire week.

Mr. Dalgaard objects to email partly because people use it to avoid talking with others, or to hide negative or critical messages or information from co-workers, sometimes by hitting the 'bcc' button. His goal in setting the ban is to get employees 'authentically addressing issues amongst each other,' he told employees. So far, the edict is working. People are grabbing their phones or walking to each other's desks to talk, Mr. Dalgaard says. Employees still contact each other online via in-house social networks.

In targeting email, Mr. Dalgaard is trying to root out long, time-consuming, one-on-one email strings, he says. Other email critics say heavy emailing hurts productivity by distracting people and destroying their focus.

In relatedresearch, email may make users feel less responsible for telling the truth. A study in a recent issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology found that people are more willing to lie when communicating via email than with pen and paper, and feel more justified doing so. This was true regardless of whether the writers were told their falsehood would be discovered by others.

I am having a little email backlash of my own. I used to be a heavy user of email to communicate with my adult stepchildren and extended family, who are scattered across six states. But I have noticed we are all using email less lately. Increasingly, an email seems to have less emotionalsignificance than other modes of communication, from a phone call to an iChat talk.

Readers, how well does email work for you in communicating in depth with someone? How much do you rely on it at work?

Sue Shellenbarger

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• contact [´kɔntækt] n.接触；联系 v.联络 (初中英语单词)
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• california [,kæli´fɔ:njə] n.加利福尼亚 (初中英语单词)
• management [´mænidʒmənt] n.管理；处理；经营 (初中英语单词)
• partly [´pɑ:tli] ad.部分地；不完全地 (初中英语单词)
• button [´bʌtn] n.钮扣 vt.扣上(扣子) (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• responsible [ri´spɔnsəbəl] a.尽责的；责任重大的 (初中英语单词)
• journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
• willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
• emotional [i´məuʃənəl] a.易动感情的；情感的 (初中英语单词)
• communication [kə,mju:ni´keiʃən] n.通信；通讯联系 (初中英语单词)
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• critical [´kritikəl] a.批评的；关键性的 (高中英语单词)
• amongst [ə´mʌŋst] prep.其中之一 =among (高中英语单词)
• related [ri´leitid] a.叙述的；有联系的 (高中英语单词)
• psychology [sai´kɔlədʒi] n.心理(学) (高中英语单词)
• regardless [ri´gɑ:dləs] a.不留心的；不关心的 (高中英语单词)
• falsehood [´fɔ:lshud] n.错误；撒谎 (高中英语单词)
• communicate [kə´mju:nikeit] vi.通讯；传达；传播 (高中英语单词)
• significance [sig´nifikəns] n.意义；重要性 (高中英语单词)
• setting [´setiŋ] n.安装；排字；布景 (英语四级单词)
• trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
• increasingly [in´kri:siŋli] ad.日益，愈加 (英语四级单词)
• imposing [im´pəuziŋ] a.壮丽的，堂皇的 (英语六级单词)
• applied [ə´plaid] a.实用的，应用的 (英语六级单词)
• extended [iks´tendid] a.伸长的；广大的 (英语六级单词)