Up until a few weeks ago, I've been using an old cell phone. So old in fact that I rarely sent or received text messages.
Then, I switched to a new cell phone that can send and receive text messages with ease. When I was sick a few weeks ago, I spent a good part of my time in bed exchanging notes with my friends. One night, I think I may have sent around 50 text messages. Wow.
Then, it became apparent to me that some of my friends have been sending 'mass' text messages. These are messages that you may get that say, "Hey, want to go to the movies tonight?" It's a little like phishing. You can send out a mass message to all of your friends and find out who is available without them knowing just who you asked.
So, last week, I tried the mass messaging; it was successful. I sent out a reminder just before meeting up for drinks. Friends who might have forgotten came; friends who were looking for something to do were given an option.
Since then, I've become much more aware of the mass messages I receive.
Today, I've gotten around 6 text messages that I suspect are mass Merry Christmas'. What do you think? Do these messages allow you to more closely connect to your friends or are they disconnecting?
I must say... I tend to feel it connects us. In the past, I would have not heard anything from my friends. It's hard to get away on Christmas day to connect. Text messages allow us to reach out on our own terms... to others who can receive them on their own terms. It's a bonus that you can connect to so many people at one time.
I do wonder though... what is the future of this? Will we eventually send Christmas card-like messages via text message? Christmas presents?
Either way, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
1 comment:
There's a service called Dodgeball that makes sending "mass" text for meeting up with friends easier. Google bought them about a year and a half ago. They don't "officially" support Memphis yet, but pretty interesting nonetheless.
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