Facebook Mail: Strengthening the Ties That Bind

If you were looking for the bigger picture behind the tit-for-tat war that has been going on between Google and Facebook over the ability to export your email contacts, another piece of the puzzle may have just fallen into place: the giant social network is making a major announcement on Monday, and one popular theory is that it will launch an email service it has reportedly been working on, code-named Project Titan. While many see this as an attack on Gmail, the bigger goal is likely to strengthen the ties (or chains) that bind Facebook to its core user base. But do they want — or need — Facebook email?