Obviously, traditional speaking is better than private messages; On the other hand, there is not a speaking history. So I prefer emails because they are written on black and white.
For example: someone could ask me something that it is not what he wants or it is not corrent. On traditional speaking, a third person doesn't know who said what. On email, it is all written.
I work as freelancer in Italy, and I think the problem is a bit different. Most company ask me to visit an office every day, because they want observe you. Most of them think: if you visit the office everyday and stay in the office, so you are working hard.