In 2005, a Pew Research Center survey revealed approximately 65% of American adults used cellphones and 5% engaged with social media platforms. The following year, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended to address the proliferation of electronically stored information (ESI), defined to include “writings … photographs, sound recordings, images, or other data or data compilations—stored in any medium from which information can be obtained.” The committee notes recognized the growth in ESI and explicitly used the example of email as a new type of discoverable communication.

Fast forward to 2021: new Pew surveys found that 97% of American adults have a cellphone and a majority of American adults—over 70%—engage with a variety of social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Many of those same adults admitted to using social media multiple times a day, every day. And, in addition to email, text messaging and other messaging apps allow adults to interchangeably use a variety of electronic communication methods.