Years ago, my husband and I shared one for a little while, but then I used it more and more so I just got my own. Less confusion that way!

my aunt uses her husband's email address, i hate having to email him and say "it's not for you, give it to the wifey"

I think shared email account can be useful for things that matter to both of them. If its important then they both have access to the email, and don't need to worry about remembering to forward it to their significant other.

I think sharing an e-mail address is ok for family stuff that includes both husband and wife. Other than that, I never understood the point. It is confusing for people on the receiving end of the e-mail and may not know of the joint account.

My aunt and uncle share an email account. As far as I can tell she doesn't have one of her own, he may have a private one I'm not aware of. The address is his first initial, his middle initial, their last name. It was weird at first but now I'm used to it. When a coworker of mine moved away recently he left us with an email address that is clearly for him and his domestic partner. It's part of his last name, followed by part of his partner's last name. I now think of them collectively by this hybrid name, something I've been doing with my unmarried couple friends and family for a while now. Makes me think I should go out and get an gmail account for my SO and I following the same formula.

My friend and her husband share one if you want to reach both of them, but then they also have their individual accounts. It probably makes sense to share one for things like bills and family get togethers.

I don't have anything to hide but sharing my email account with my husband just doesn't sound appealing. I like knowing that I have a little bit of privacy.

I think they're odd.

Why not just copy both parties on the email?

I guess it depends on how much emailing the individuals do. I use mine for work as well as talking to friends/relatives, and I can't imagine making my boyfriend slog through my stuff. Even retaining individual accounts but sharing one for things like bills and stuff seems a bit odd, I'd be worried that we would think that the other had checked the account.

Too strange for my liking.

My parents just have one that is their last name@their domain.com. Mostly because my dad is completely in the dark when it comes to using email. So in that circumstance I never really thought about it. But I can't imagine sharing one with my fiance. It would get full way too fast with all of the emails we each receive!

My parents share one, but it's because my dad will not go near a computer, since he retired. My mom just tells him or shows him any messages that were meant for him.

Why would you need a joint account? E-mail accounts are free and easy to use.

my sister and her husband share one, but they are both soooo not tech savvy. they rarely go online, so for her it makes sense, and her husband will check it b/c she forgets to. of course it makes for an interesting conversation when she emails me about a fight they are having and i respond... i don't think she knows about the emails being stored in a sent folder!

My husband and I have a joint e-mail account (in addition to having our own personal accounts).

It's great because we have all of our bank account and billing statements sent to our joint email address, so we both know what's going on. Also, family announcements are sent to that address, so neither one of us miss out on anything. Some of you are saying "why don't people just send email to you separately?" In reality, that doesn't work out. My husband has a huge family that has a hard enough time keeping track of one email address- two would be right out.

The only people I know with a shared email are my grandparents, but then as two people in thir seventies I'm just hugely impressed they email at all!

I can understand having a joint email to use for bills or a joint bank account or similar, but considering most people these days have a work email and several personal email addresses *each* it seems really unusual that people would have just one joint address.

As long as they have their own personal email accounts if they're tech-saavy, I have no problem with it. In fact, I'd like to do that if I get married, so that bills and important family announcements go to the joint so we're both in the know about what happens, and don't have to keep track of what we forward or didn't forward to each other.

I'm sure for many people a shared account would work out well, but I could never do it -- much like the bathroom, I also want my email private!

My geeky husband set us up our own domain, and set up an alias of for us@thatdomain.com that points to both of our email addresses, so that we can have a "shared" account that actually isn't!

I think it depends on what generation it is. My parents have the same email account, which I don't think is strange at all. But, I could never share one with my husband.

Grandparents: yes
Other people: no

If someone gave me a joint email address, I wouldn't email them. Do they get on the phone and listen in while the other is talking, too? Same thing in my opinion. There isn't anything to hide, but I think it's rude to "team up" on friends and family who just want to say hi or tell you about Aunt Annie's operation. Obviously people on HIS side would email him and people on HER side would email her. If they can't communicate, they have more pressing issues than email.

I just have innocent things to hide from my wife. I don't want her seeing receipts for gifts that I bought her, for example. I also don't open addressed to her.

I think everyone should have their own separate e-mail accounts. I don't think the significant other needs to know everything that comes in the mail. It's their business and they should respect it!

i don't necessarily see a problem with people sharing an account - for general household matters like bills/finance stuff. however, i would always want to maintain a personal account for personall matters. also, if you shopped online for a gift for your sig.other, you don't want them to see the receipt!

I think it is pretty strange and I know for my boyfriend and I it wouldn't be an option. It's not even manageable. However, my grandfather is 80 years old and he recently got married and him and his new wife set up a joint email, in their instance I think it's a little more understandable. However, I still thinks it's strange because I'll get emails from him but it's her name in the subject line and that's just weird.

simple, but it causes more problems then one would think.

good for emails from family friends notifying about events and such but not for personal use. Just because you're married doesn't mean you're actually just one person.

kind of precious when old people do it, kind of creepy when young people do it.

My parents have one email address. They had a comcast address that had their names in it for a while. Then they moved and they got one with the boat's name in it. Neither of them use email enough to need their own addresses. Those two are so attached to each other that there's hardly any need for more than one email address. My dad has a separate one for work and my mom probably does too.

okay multiple example time!

1. my aunt and uncle. not the most tech savvy but not computer illiterate either. its just much easier, since they both use email to keep in touch with relatives; for them to have their initials+last name @ aol.com.

2. myself and my boyfriend. both pretty techno savvy; balancing multiple email accounts for different things. one serious sounding one for colleges and work and simplicity purposes, a personal one for friends and myspace and facebook and such, one for signing up to websites im not sure i want notification emails for but at least i have them, etc. and since we are both geeky; he has his own domain name, and he has hisfirstname@hisname.com; and i have recently recieved myfirstname@hisname.com. it is geek love, when its done in that formation. i dont use it for like...college apps or employers or anything; but for notes to each other ( aww ) or emailing homework to myself. but its not like we share it, though he does have access to it i guess. whatever.

3. my friend and her boyfriend. my friend, not so techsavvy, her bf; pretty tech savvy. she hardly checks her email so we usually call or text her to get in touch. he has multiple emails he checks all the time. it doesnt really make sense to integrate or create an email for them to share.

whatever

I'm really hoping this is just something that less savvy people do. Otherwise it's kind of like going to the bathroom together, too much togetherness is just odd My husband and I do have some accounts we both get copies of, but to share an inbox just feels wrong.

it's kinda cute but it seems really unnecessary.

My husband and I have a shared email account, and I don't think it's either cute or strange. It's practical. He doesn't do computers, so he could either be completely unreachable by email or he can share mine. I suppose I could set up two separate email addresses that feed into the same box, but what's the point?

Oh, and can I say that I don't really understand the difference between a shared email account and a shared home telephone line. We don't have a landline, but for those who do, who has two separate landlines set up in their house?

It's a source of accountability but then again anyone can open several email accounts. I bet a lot of these couples with shared email accounts also have one of their own as well.

I think it's more like shared email accounts being equivalent to having a shared cell phone. Once again things I only see technologically challenged people doing. I'm sure it works out good for many people but for me, I'm going to pass.

BTW my parents have a shared email account and my grandparents have a shared cell.

Me and my husband each have our own in addition to having a joint one. The only purpose of the joint account is to keep up with the house, electric and cable bills and emails so we're both aware of what is coming up.

i think its weird because i never know who i am talking/writing to and who is writing to me. my cousin and her husband have a joint account and i just don't like it. it actually makes me not want to write to them