National Email Directory

While it would be nice to be able to have a national email directory to easily get someone's email address, currently nothing like this exists. You would think with all of the capabilities on the web, someone would have come up with a way to do this. However, this is a complicated matter to resolve because of multiple email accounts under multiple names, and privacy is another key issue. While you may not be aware of this, there are many email search services available that use various means to create incredible amounts of information where you can go to find what and who you need. By keying in a name and/or address, it is possible to quickly find the person and their email address. It is also possible to use an email address through a reverse email search service to find the person to whom it belongs.

With all of these other methods available, there probably is no reason to have just one big directory. While the advantage would be to only have to go to one place, it would probably require a major effort to keep this updated because a lot people change emails often or set up many accounts under different names. Through competition, these online search services make it their business to use all possible resources to gather and keep track of a continually changing environment, and they do an amazing job of this. They allow many different ways to search for almost anything you need to know. Some of these even offer this at no cost.

Besides these services, you might try a few other things in order to find an email. Since this is the number one way to keep in touch, your inbox may be a good resource if the person has emailed you before, or someone may have put them in a list of recipients in their messages. While this may take some time, it could be worth it. Another thing you could try is an email address for them where they are employed or go to school. Many company or college websites have a listing with an email address or a contact option. If they don't want you to contact them through this, they will quickly let you know their personal one.

Even though there is not a one stop shop for an email address, this certainly is not a problem. If you think about it, we really do not want to make it too easy for some of the less than desirable characters that virtually make their living trying to cheat us. We only have to check our inbox to see that they seem to find us anyhow. When they come up with a way to prevent this, we will all be very happy.