How do you communicate?

Today I was reading an article/interview in Businessweek about Research In Motion (RIM), the makers of BlackBerry mobile devices. Basically, what I gleaned from the article (and what everyone seems to know already) is that the Apple iPhone seems to be the smartphone that every communication device maker tries to emulate. The iPhone has enjoyed enormous success - remarkable, since it's only supported by one wireless carrier (AT&T) and the BlackBerry is supported by several. I started wondering: why isn't RIM more of a competitor?

I realized that the whole idea of a BlackBerry revolves around mobile email access, and that the devices really aren't much more useful than a bare-bones wireless device. In fact, I recently discovered an application that essentially turned my bare-bones wireless phone into an email machine - it even alerts me when I have email - much like a BlackBerry.

So what's the problem?

I realized I hardly ever send email anymore. In fact, in the past week I've sent exactly 18 emails. Of those, five of them were to myself (I tend to use email when I need to remind myself of something to do later).

So in the past week, I've used email 13 times to communicate with other people. This got me thinking about my communication habits, and my curiosity got the best of me: in the same week I've sent 124 text messages, and used my phone 20 times to call people. I estimate that in the same time, I've posted 15 updates on Twitter, and the same on Facebook. I've probably used Facebook another 20-30 times to communicate directly with people.

I realized that in the age of Facebook, Twitter, and widespread wireless integration, it's possible that email and traditional voice calls have been largely replaced by more flexible, more interactive, or even more simple forms of communication. Twitter allows us to update or call out to people on a massive scale. Facebook allows us to be interactive - to use photos, songs, or event invitations to communicate. Texting allows us to get in touch with people on the fly.

So what's this mean? What it means to me is that if other people's communication habits are anything like my own, then the BlackBerry isn't really a competitor to the iPhone. The iPhone is designed to run applications - if you visit the iPhone App Store, you can find an application for just about anything, including email. The difference between the iPhone and the BlackBerry is that one device is marketed to those who use email, and one device is marketed to those who want flexibility in what their phone will do.

Only recently has RIM figured out what Apple has known for a long time, and they've opened their own application store: BlackBerry App World. I'm sure this will bring RIM more in step with what consumers want and need these days, but what about the bigger question: how are people's communications needs changing? What are the trends? Who are going to be the innovators who accurately predict how people will communicate in the future? Is this the end of communication innovation, or is something new going to evolve that takes us beyond the smartphone? And how will the effectiveness of our communications evolve or suffer as a byproduct of using the technology? (see concerns expressed in the anonymous comment in my voicemail post)

What do you think? What are your communication habits?

Twitter...3 yrs old.

Apparently yesterday Twitter turned 3 years old.

Honestly, I'm not an expert when it comes to Twitter...I think I've written just over 40 posts (tweets) on Twitter since I joined last summer - although, many of those have come in the past month or so, as my general fascination with social networking has reached an apex.

So the other day when I sat down to lunch with some coworkers, I was pretty enamored when the topic of conversation turned to social networking and Twitter - and without regard to my office reputation, I foolishly and proudly announced the fact that I was a newly devoted fan of the service.

I sank a little lower in my chair, and I'm sure my face turned red when everyone around the table raised their eyebrows and seemed to harmonize: "Why?? What's it for??"

"Ummmmm....yeah, I don't know. It's, you know....microblogging."

"Micro-what?"

Since then, I've been feverishly trying to figure out how to explain the utility of Twitter, and social networking in general...so I don't feel like an idiot again the next time I'm faced with the question - especially by coworkers.

What I've decided is that there are 3 basic kinds of people that use Twitter, and likewise 3 basic utilities:

1) The people who like everyone to know EXACTLY what they're doing at a particular moment (or they think that you want to know). This category includes the people who write about what they just ordered from Wendy's, where they're going to watch the game, and what home-improvement projects they're working on today.

UTILITY: Updates on life.

2) The people who use Twitter to post things that interest them. This includes bloggers, activists, and people who spend a lot of time reading.

UTILITY: Spread the word.

3) The people who use Twitter to ask questions.

UTILITY: Collaboration, Crowdsourcing.

I'm sure there are things I'm missing, so feel free to comment, and make suggestions, or let me know if I'm completely off the mark.