Don't get emotionally attached to protocols. Preserve them as history, but never feel obligated to keep using a protocol that doesn't fit your needs any more. Cough IRC, email
Luckily the first, and increasingly the second, are being replaced by Slack!
There isn't an email-shaped slot in society that was being filled by email. The shape of society has changed and email doesn't really fill a slot any more. We have a WhatsApp-shaped slot and a Discord-shaped slot now though.