BOSTON -- Most people may find it hard to imagine life without e-mail nowadays, but a new study suggests that electronic mail may quickly be becoming a thing of the past.

More Americans are now substituting other kinds of online communications for e-mail, according to a survey conducted by the online communication company Skype and Harrison Interactive.

“When it comes to Internet communication, people are cherry picking for the best way to communicate and time really is of the essence,” said Lisa Gerould, director of market research for Skype, which offers instant messaging and voice and video calling services.

“People want to connect with friends and family quickly, and the lag time involved with getting an e-mail response is more than some can bear in our 24/7 world. Other methods provide immediate gratification and a more conversational interchange.”

The study interviewed more than 3,000 U.S. adults aged 18 and older via an online survey. It showed that the use of e-mail is decreasing.

The study revealed that almost 60 percent of online users have replaced some of their e-mail communication with instant messaging, online text messaging, social-network sites and web-based voice calling.

“While there will always be a space for e-mail in people’s communication, other communication options are causing an e-mail-substitution effect,” said Gerould. “These new online communications make users feel more intimate and more personal. The immediacy is also the attraction.”

More than 50 percent of respondents said that IM, video calling and social networking feel more like a live conversational than e-mail.

Some survey respondents said they shifted their online use away from e-mails because other communications allow them to talk or chat to more than one person at a time.

More than 40 percent said they like being able to see if their parties are available before making a call or sending messages to them.

E-mail companies are also developing new services to catch up with customers’ trends and activities. Google said it has developed several new products for users to use while they are checking their inbox.

“More and more communication is moving online over time, and we're seeing rapid growth of our communications products, including e-mail and IM,” said Google Product Manager Keith Coleman.

“Our focus has been on bringing communication tools together in useful ways, resulting in things like G-mail chat, where users can switch seamlessly between e-mail and IM, based on whichever is best for what they're doing,” Coleman said.

“We don't think the future is any one communication tool, added Coleman. “But ways for people to have the right tools at hand all the time.”