Email Address Prejudice - It exists!

Nancy E. Anderson writes in the Chicago Tribune about how her @aol.com email address may be keeping her down in the digital age - not because of the functionality of her email service, but because of its reputation. And she's right to be concerned: your email address can say a lot about you! @aol.com can imply that you're a luddite; @comcast.net (or any other ISP address) means you don't take the initiative in your digital life and just accept the email address that is thrown at you, and the address may not last long; @[yourschool].edu means you can't let go of your college years; @[youremployer].com means you meld your professional and personal lives perhaps too much. @hotmail.com and @yahoo.com are debatable, since they both offer fine (arguably the best) performance, but are vestiges of times past. @gmail.com is the one that's universally acceptable for now, since it implies the understanding of cutting-edge digital trends - but that may not always be the case. When the next Hot Thing comes along, with all those @gmail.com folks do the tedious email address switch? And finally, there's the vanity address - @[myname].com. That's my weapon of choice, because it allows the underlying service to be switched anytime without having to change the actual address. So yes, email address prejudice - mostly based on the parts after the "@" - does happen. But for all I know, Ms Anderson may be correct with her closing line: "Having an AOL e-mail address might just become retro-chic."
[via Lifehacker]