Emailgate just won't go away for Hillary Clinton.
Why the continued scrutiny? There's no one single factor. (Is there ever?) Clinton is a polarizing political figure who maintains a high profile. (Click here for more on the "Hillary conundrum.")
Truth be told, however, Clinton is hardly the first prominent female politician to cause a kerfuffle by using her personal e-mail account to possibly conduct government business. See Sarah Palin in 2010.
But let's get back to Clinton and Emailgate. In her words:
In going through the emails, there were over 60,000 in total, sent and received. About half were work-related and went to State Department, and about half were personal that were not in any way related to my work. I had no reason to save them, but that was my decision because federal guidelines are clear and the State Department request was clear. For any government employee, it is that government employee's responsibility to determine what's personal and what's work-related.
A few days later, she offered a mea culpa:
Looking back, it would've been better for me to use two separate phones and two email accounts. I thought using one device would be simpler, and obviously, it hasn't worked out that way.
I'm no political expert, but I do know quite a bit about technology and communications. As such, Clinton is right about one thing: Using a single device to manage our emails is easy--too easy. And it's this very lack of friction that causes all sorts of problems. As I argue in Message Not Received: Why Business Communication Is Broken and How to Fix It, it's become nearly effortless to send e-mail. Technology has advanced to the point at which much communication has become frictionless. We share our thoughts and ask questions later. The poster child here is Justine Sacco, the queen of the dumb tweet.
A Trip Down Memory Lane
Today, none of that friction exists. Got five minutes on line at the supermarket? Whip out your smartphone and send a message. Ditto if you're at a red light or at the gym and bored on the treadmill. The Apple Watch just advances this trend. Why take our your phone and unlock it?