Reinventing the IN Box.(The Technologist)(Xobni Corporation)

Byline: Christopher Flavelle

As web sites like Facebook and MySpace change the way we communicate online, the IN box--that overflowing, spam-clogged emblem of Internet frustration--is also due for a makeover. Tech companies are working to invent some kind of fusion of e-mail and social networking, which would enable e-mail users to manage their IN boxes and contact lists with Facebook-style networking tools. "People are beginning to say, 'I don't want to go to one site for e-mail, and another site for instant messaging, and yet another site to post on a wall'," says John Kremer, vice president for Yahoo Mail. "I want to be able to manage my communications in a single place in a way that makes me more productive, and makes it a smarter experience."

One of the leading startups in this new field is Xobni. The San Francisco firm hopes to capitalize on dissatisfaction with swelling IN boxes that make the eyes glaze over. "Google organized all the information on the Web," says cofounder Matt Brezina. "Nobody's really done that for your personal information." In the spring, Xobni plans to release Insight, a product that allows users to organize their e-mail according to relationships. The software extracts statistics about e-mail patterns, and then sorts incoming messages according to the relationship the user has with the sender. Instead of a chronological list, Insight displays messages from important people at the top of the IN box.

For each user, Insight can also create a profile that includes contact information and links to previous conversations and is displayed in a sidebar next to the message list. The sidebar also contains what Brezina calls a "hidden social network"--a list of people your correspondent exchanges e-mails with, and also happen to be in your contact list. If you get an e-mail from an old college friend, you'll see a list of those people in your contact list who also ...