• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, June 7, 2005

According to American Online surveys, conducted in partnership with Opinion Research Corporation, as reported by Emarketer, users rely on e-mail as much as the phone for communication, spend about an hour a day on e-mail and that 77% of them have more than one e-mail account. That translates to an essential part of everyday life, concludes the report.

The survey shows:

• 41% of Americans check e-mail first thing in the morning
• 18% check e-mail right after dinner
• 14% check e-mail right when they get home from work
• 14% check e-mail right before they go to bed
• 40% of e-mail users have checked their e-mail in the middle of the night

More than one in four say they can't go more than two to three days without checking e-mail. And it's checked everywhere:

• In bed (23%)
• In class (12%)
• In a business meeting (8%)
• At a Wi-Fi hotspot (6%)
• At the beach or pool (6%)
• In the bathroom (4%)
• While driving (4%)
• In church (1%)

The survey found that 61% of e-mail users employed outside the home check their personal e-mail at work,

• 47% check personal e-mail at work
• 47% check it sporadically throughout the day
• 25% check it first thing when they arrive at work
• 18% check it at lunchtime
• 8% during an afternoon break
• 2% right before heading home

Women are more likely than men to check their personal e-mail at work throughout the day , and 60% of all e-mail users check their e-mail while on vacation.

More information is available at eMarketer.