Does a Lame E-Mail Address Really Matter?

theodp writes "Over at the Chicago Tribune, freelance writer Nancy Anderson makes an embarrassing confession. It's 2010 and she still has an AOL e-mail address. 'You've got to get rid of that AOL address,' her publicist sister told her five years ago. 'It's bad for your image.' Image, shmimage, Anderson thought. 'If I do good work,' she asks, 'does my e-mail address really matter?' Good question. Would an AOL e-mail address — or another 'toxic' e-mail address — influence your decision to hire someone?"

Comments

Aol is one thing but a @hotmail?

[miffo.swe]

I would never in my life hire someone for a technical position if they have a hotmail account in their resume. Hotmail is to me and i suspect many others the most lame address anyone can have. If someone is a geek and still has a hotmail account i instantly file those under "rampant Microsoft fanboy" because most techies with some skills choose a much better mail provider.

Re:yes

[sakdoctor]

Same answer for a totally different reason.

Why would you advertise AOL or hotmail, when you have a chance to plug your own site?
I often chop off the username@ of interesting domains, and for a job application it can provide extra space to impress.

Re:yes

[L4t3r4lu5]

An anonymous poster gives an opinion with no corroboration or evidence, and it's moderated Informative.

Everyone who modded the twice-stated word "yes" as "Informative" should lose their ability to moderate.

Re:yes

[Anonymous Coward]

GMail doesn't cost a thing.

Except for your privacy.

Re:yes

[nilbog]

Wrong. If you're using an email address from AOL you're wearing a big sign on your forehead that says "I have no clue what is going on in the world." I don't care if you actually do or not. You wouldn't wear a Hawaiian shirt, shorts and sandals to meet with a big client, so you shouldn't do the same thing with your email address.

How you present yourself is important. If you don't realize that you're not living in reality.

And yes, if I ever see someone with an AOL address, I immediately mentally disqualify the possibility that they know anything about what is going on with computers and technology.

Re:yes

[GNUALMAFUERTE]

I own a software development firm. We ask people if they do twitter, facebook, myspace, and other social crap. If they say yes, we immediately tell them "thank you for your time, but I don't think we are interested".

Using facebut/titer/myjunk and other crap is absolute proof of an IQ below room temperature.