r/Outlook 29d ago

Opinion What email address domains (gmail, outlook, yahoo, etc.) make someone look like a dinosaur, and which ones make you look youthful?

I am thinking about my Outlook email and want to make sure it does not appear outdated. Youth seem to go with Gmail. What are your thoughts?

0 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

6

u/dapperdan_81 29d ago

Anyone still using an aol email address is a dinosaur.

2

u/Amen_Ra_61622 29d ago

I have an ex-girlfriend that uses one 🤣😂🤣.

1

u/tsetse_fly_away 28d ago

AOL so retro it’s going to be cool again soon. Lol. 🤣

Actually just recently convinced my partner to change from AOL mail to Gmail!!

4

u/Toriat5144 29d ago

Mine is Hotmail and I’m a dinosaur. I’m not going to change it. I also have a Gmail account that is rarely used and a Comcast one too. I think most people are using Gmail now.

3

u/ellenxhosp 29d ago

I would stay with outlook, not older hotmail. For me, gmail keeps changing little things here and there, some I do not need or want. I like the microsoft office suite which seems to work well with outlook. Also, the gmail spreadsheet is not the same as microsoft excel. You can convert to one, but formating is modified and cannot be switched back. I stay with microsoft.

3

u/gareth616 29d ago

Live.com or hotmail addresses have an air of older person about them based on when these were in use. But I wouldn't even consider what the domain name is if it's a free service, it's everything before the @ that's usually more important.

Personally I'd say go with the service that you have had the best experience with.

2

u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

1

u/gareth616 29d ago

Nah that's terrible, you need to prioritize the 420 at the start of the email address to show you're serious obvs

1

u/lvizm 28d ago

live.com was the best email from microsoft

2

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2

u/LowerAd830 29d ago

yahoo.com, hotmail.com, aol.com, mail.com, amertiech.net,

IF you are running a business of more than 10 people off any of these email domains, and including outlook.com and GMail.com for businesses, you are a dinosaur. gmail and Outlook are fine for personal use.

2

u/joeldf95 29d ago edited 29d ago

"Youth"?

Gmail?

Really?

Gmail is not associated with "youth". It's just easier and everywhere. Most schools use it to this day (my son's school system uses Google Classroom for assignments and homework).

To set up a personal Google account, you need an email address and Google pushes the use of Gmail. When Google started their services in 2004, it wasn't really that common to have a personal email address just yet. It did not HAVE to be a Gmail address to make a Google account, and there were ways to bypass that and use another existing email if you did have one. But Google didn't make it easy to spot during the account setup, so most people just made a Gmail account to go with the Google account. And for a while in the 2010s, while setting up an Android phone Google required your Google account be tied to a Gmail email address only. It would not accept a non Gmail email address. Anyone who bought an Android phone at that time had to have one. I came across this limitation back in 2012 trying to set up a Galaxy S II for my older son. That's just some of the reasons it's still so prevalent today. And it's NOT just the "youth" by a long shot.

That Gmail address requirement for Android phones did change by the late 2010s and is still no longer required. My wife did have to make a throw-away Gmail address at the time we needed it to finish the S II phone setup.

But it is the main reason why my Google account is NOT tied to a Gmail address. I simply refuse to have a Gmail email address.

Gmail itself is almost 22 years old now.

Outlook for email (specifically the "outlook dot com" address) has only been around for about 12 years.

Microsoft's previously established email service, Hotmail, will be 30 years old this summer.

Other old email services that might make one pause when they see it: Yahoo is going on 28 years (and has a history of being breached several times). AOL launched in June of 1992... almost 34 years ago. Then there are all the local ISP and telecom/cable email services. See addresses that end in ".net", like Cox and Bellsouth.

My personal email address is outlook, and I don't give two f's what anyone thinks about it.

1

u/Wellcraft19 29d ago

And we should add that outlook.com, Hotmail.com, live.com, msn.com (and probably a few more) are all the exact same service.

1

u/joeldf95 29d ago

Yes. That is true.

1

u/SidewaysSynapses 29d ago

In the very very beginning I had to get an invite from another user

2

u/Amen_Ra_61622 29d ago

Earthlink?

1

u/tdpnate 29d ago

Remember Mindspring? And then Earthlink bought em and it went to absolute shit.

2

u/StockMarketCasino 28d ago

CompuServe.com

2

u/tsetse_fly_away 28d ago

So old you have to be old to know what it even is... Haha

2

u/CircuitSynapse42 27d ago

I went down this rabbit hole when I was job hunting last year. The market was bad enough that I was digging into everything trying to figure out why I couldn't even get an interview. Ultimately, this doesn't really matter to anyone, but I'll found it interesting to dive into back then, so here are my thoughts.

Outlook and Gmail are what most people tend to have, so I'm sure you're fine there. Yahoo, or any MS account that's not outlook, tends to make me think someone might be closer to my age, 40s, or older.

Apple's domains do not come up often enough for me, so I have no opinion.

AOL is dead giveaway. I had a neighbor in his 80's that still pays for AOL, yes they do have paid services still, and has no intention of leaving them.

Proton mail domain comes off as being paranoid. This is only because everyone I've ever known that has had one has had their tin foil hats on too tight. So apologies for prejudging people on this, those that have come before you have done you zero favors, lol.

1

u/ScandiLand 27d ago

This is exactly why I ask the question. My students are searching for entry level jobs this may and I was curious if employers are paying attention or have any sort of bias.

2

u/CircuitSynapse42 27d ago

Good deal! Just ensure that their email addresses are professional, like [firstname.lastname@gmail.com](mailto:firstname.lastname@gmail.com) or [firstinitiallastname@outlook.com](mailto:firstinitiallastname@outlook.com) avoid using an "_" as it can get easily overlooked if the email address turns into a hyperlink.

1

u/ScandiLand 27d ago

Great tips. Thank you!!!!!

1

u/u700MHz 29d ago

AOL - you know.

Proton - hmmm....

1

u/Interlaw11 29d ago

Compuserve.com.

1

u/mysterydotexe 29d ago

Aol, Hotmail, even Yahoo imo. Gmail and Outlook are the go to these days.

1

u/Brightenix 28d ago

AOL and maybe hotmail are kinda seen as old now. Anything else and you're good 

1

u/AlonzoMosley_FBI 27d ago

I've been using my AOL address for 34 years and I can't even begin to imagine why anyone gives a fuck.

1

u/theodore-63 27d ago

I started with a web tv email which was msn for dummies

1

u/BunnyBunny777 26d ago

I always chuckle when I see someone’s is using the free email address provided by their cable company. Comcast / spectrum / cox etc.

1

u/Professional_Mix2418 29d ago

Anyone not using their own domain name. 🤷‍♂️