Is email the new telegraph? With the pre-pubescent set using twitter, IM and Facebook instead of email, the tech folks at Slate think the electronic letter is dying.

Of course, Slate’s deck head for technology articles is “The Future And What To Do About It,” which seems excessively foreboding.

The point is that teenagers, who mind you, are the future, don’t have the patience for e-mail.

More so than e-mail, all of these methods of instant communication mimic the interactions that kids would otherwise have in basements and dorm rooms. E-mail, by comparison, can feel stilted and plodding. Writing is methodical and time-consuming, a closer relative to letter writing than to conversation. Even the delivery speed of e-mail—sure, it takes only a few seconds—is now considered frightfully slow.

Seriously, the gmail notifier does take forever. But forget about the communication habits of teenagers, what does this mean for us:

So, is the solution to browbeat these little rebels back in line and enforce mandatory e-mail usage? Good luck. Chances are, as usual, that the grown-ups will be the ones who are forced to adapt.

Great. Can’t wait until corporations, in an effort to seem with it, downsize via twitter