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SMS is integral to our daily communications | BulkSMS.com

February 20, 2008

Cellphones are an unrivalled communications device and SMS messaging is an integral part of our daily social interactions. SMS messaging allows us to instantly contact others, irrespective of the time of day or whether they are sent to someone in the next room, another city, or even overseas.

“How we communicate has fundamentally changed over the last decade due to the widespread uptake of cellphones. Before cellphones we had to be near a telephone or computer to communicate, nowadays we carry our cellphones with us wherever we go,” said Dr Pieter E. Streicher, managing director of BulkSMS.com, a provider of global messaging services.

Inspiring new social behaviour

An emerging trend spurred on by cellphone use is the re-connection of inter-personal communications within our immediate or extended social networks; a return, a sociologist has proposed, to the way we used to communicate in pre-industrial times within our local community. The difference today is that our networks of friends, family and colleagues may extend globally.

Furthermore, we live in a world of increased mobility - we can travel far from home for work or leisure purposes. Nevertheless, we have the benefits of communicating with our cellphone with someone else as if they were “just next door, on the other side of the fence.” In the mobile age, messaging ensures geographic distance is dead.

According to Dr. Streicher the use of the cellphone for messaging has brought us closer together than we ever thought possible. “SMS messaging allows communications to be more frequent and informal whilst still affirming the human need to feel connected to others.”

SMS’s are personal

One of the reasons why SMS messages are so popular is SMS allows you to communicate personally and, unlike a voice call, without fully interrupting the recipient from what they are doing at the time.

“Many people are finding that they can send and receive messages while doing other tasks. Granted, there are places – like movies or theatres houses, at a funeral or wedding, or in a business meeting – where we should follow cellphone etiquette and be considerate to others by not reaching for our cellphone,” said Dr Streicher.

Another reason for the uptake of SMS’ing is that it enables you to keep in touch with far away friends and family. SMS messages are replacing voice calls as a means to tell others the latest news snippets, for example, when there is a birth or death in the family, the latest celebrity gossip, to ask for advice, or tell someone you’ve arrived safely at a destination when travelling.

“Of course, when you receive an SMS saying: “Hi, please can you call me” from your twenty-something son in London, you would not be far wrong from guessing that he needs some money,” observed Dr Streicher.

The use of SMS is also pervasive closer to home. Within our city limits we warn people about traffic jams by sending an SMS to radio stations. We may even ‘flirt” or seek a date via SMS. We use SMS to enter competitions, to subscribe to weather, surf report and financial information services. We send SMS’s just to remind someone we are thinking of them, a cellular nudge or wink.

Business communication with SMS

“At BulkSMS.com we are seeing more and more companies and schools using SMS for several reasons. In each case, the business or school is able to communicate directly with the intended person,” said Dr Streicher.

Businesses use bulk SMS messaging to let their customers know about promotions or events or use messaging internally to confirm meetings or confirm orders when on the road. They use personalised message notifying the client when items (such as a book) are ready for collection. School, on the other hand, lets parents know when exams are taking place or when they can expect their son or daughter to return home with a report card.

According to Dr Streicher we should continue to see a growth in the use of SMS messaging in our work and personal lives. “It is a technology that is easy to use and readily accessible - this is what has made SMS messaging part and parcel of our daily social or business interactions.”