The prediction, in brief:

E-mail cannot replace face-to-face meetings in the process of consensus-building and decision-making. E-mail, news groups, etc. one can opt out of. A meeting compels attention. What e-mail does do is prepare the ground – exchange of views, internal discussion, etc. can prune the agenda down to the really thorny issues: no time is wasted.

Predictor: Mehta, Arun

Prediction, in context:

In the May 1994 issue of his online newsletter The Network Observer, Arun Mehta writes:”E-mail cannot replace face-to-face meetings in the process of consensus-building and decision-making. E-mail, news groups, etc. one can opt out of. A meeting compels attention. What e-mail does do is prepare the ground – exchange of views, internal discussion, etc. can prune the agenda down to the really thorny issues: no time is wasted. In the preliminary discussion on e-mail, only those who feel strongly are active, the rest listen in as long as are interested. But come decision-making time, when there has to be give and take to breach divergent positions, everyone must focus. That can only happen with busy people if they are physically removed from their immediate environments.”

Date of prediction: May 1, 1994

Topic of prediction: Communication

Subtopic: E-mail

Name of publication: The Network Observer

Title, headline, chapter name: The Role of E-mail in Democratic Decision-Making

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/tno/may-1994.html

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney