How have text messages changed the way we communicate

Following on from our celebration of Steps’ 25th Birthday in April, we discovered that we are not the only ones reaching our silver milestone… the text message turns 25 this year as well!

We are all well aware that texting has come a long way since the first message was sent on 3rd December 1992 which only contained two simple words: ‘Merry Christmas’. Just look at how far we have come! We send billions of text messages all over the world all day, every day. Long gone are character number restrictions – now we have complete freedom to send annoyingly long, novel-like texts much to the receiver’s dismay. Gone are the days where our brick-like phones would only let us view one SMS on their tiny screens at a time – instead our conversations stay all in one place, allowing us to scroll up and down, sending and receiving messages till our hearts content. But that isn’t even the best part… because our conversations can be viewed all on one screen; we can annoy our friends and family even more. Rather than sending one long text, isn’t it more fun to send 20 smaller ones so that the vibrations from the recipients phone cause a mini-earthquake, forcing them to respond? The answer is: Yes, definitely.

While we are on the subject of the technical advancements of the text message over the last 25 years, we are yet to mention the most important one… yes, you guessed it –the emoji. Prior to the birth of the emoji, we used emoticons which are now most likely only to be found in my grandparents sent box. Now that it is 2017 the emoticon has been well and truly replaced by the emoji because of the fact most of us couldn’t survive without our smartphones. It isn’t just kids and teenagers who have familiarised themselves with the emoji keyboard as I am sure you’ve noticed… but I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the weird and random series of emojis my mum ends all of her text messages with.

But on a serious note, the developments of the text message have proved to be really useful for every day communication within and on behalf of businesses. Businesses can use texts for marketing purposes or maintaining customer / client relationships. Texting is undoubtedly one of, if not THE, easiest way of getting hold of people, with it being personal but yet not as formal as a phone call. Employers would find it extremely difficult to reach important members of staff or clients and business definitely couldn’t run as smoothly without the ease and reassurance of a text message.

A few examples of business based uses of the text message are:

• Appointments – personal text message confirmations and reminders for customers.
• Organising meetings and travel – confirmations of places and times so no time is wasted.
• Promotional marketing – provide customers with offers and coupons to generate interest.

Many businesses rely on the text message to make sure they make the best use of their time and money. Often businesses will grow and maintain their relationships with employees, customers and clients via text messages and emails, but we all know that’s no substitute for face-to-face interaction. Face-to-face interaction is shown to boost creativity and collaboration within a business of any size, and we are dedicated to making that happen – both through how we communicate internally and by helping our clients communicate better within their business.

At Steps we make much use of modern technological advancements, such as Skype to ensure our monthly company meetings are face to face contact for those in the office and those working remotely, and we champion this practice to our clients – and everyone else!

Zara Wood >>