Sociotemporal Rhythms in E-mail

Abstract

This study examines sociotemporal rhythms in the volume of e-mail. E-mail is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but we hypothesize that there are non-random patterns in the temporal flow of e-mail. We counted the total number of e-mail messages received per hour by any address at our college for more than eight months. Non-random patterns emerged in our data. The volume of e-mail per hour is above average during traditional working hours and below average during the early morning and evening hours. Also, there are significant differences in the mean number of messages per hour/per day.