Is E-Mail Our Technological Frenemy? [#Infographic]

Computer engineer Ray Tomlinson sent the first e-mail in 1971, and in 1976, Queen Elizabeth II became the first head of state to send an e-mail.

If e-mail is good enough for the Queen, then it’s good enough for the rest of us, right?

However, as a new infographic from Master Degree Online.com details, e-mail may be our ultimate technological frenemy.

An experiment conducted by Natick Soldier Systems Center discovered that employees prohibited from checking e-mail said they could focus better and reported feeling better about their jobs. When the employees were granted unlimited e-mail access, they indicated higher heart rates.

Perhaps it’s the amount of spam we receive via e-mail that is impacting our stress levels: Seventy-one percent of worldwide e-mail traffic is spam. This costs businesses $20.5 billion annually in decreased productivity and technical expenses.

One of the main problems with e-mail is that we check it everywhere: at work, in the bathroom and on vacation. In fact, 15 percent of people surveyed admitted to checking their e-mail at funerals.

Are you obsessed with e-mail? Join the club. We meet daily.

First duty of new membership: Check out the full infographic below.