Evidence that text messaging has reached a Tipping Point
Until recently, text messaging or more accurately SMS, was primarily the territory of teens (the Internet Generation) and twenty-somethings (Generation Y). There are exceptions to this generational generalization (here also), but for all intents and purposes those who are using it either belong to the groups referenced previously or been among a group of early adopters, interested in the implications of new methods and manners of communication and collaboration.
Thanks to tools like Twitter, Dodgeball, Jaiku, Pownce, blabto, and Kadoink, texting has gone from a phenomenon of the few to a communications method of the many. The Association Bloggers (largely comprised of Gen-Xers) demonstrated this in the txtmob backchannel experiment at the ASAE Annual Conference this year in Chicago. Text messaging could be used for true collaboration and almost real-time information exchange. I was among those that used texting for strictly utilitarian purposes until this experiment, but now I use it for a myriad of purposes, not least of which is staying connected to many new friends and colleagues that I met through or at the conference.
Further evidence that text messaging has reached, or moved beyond, the Tipping Point, was offered this past Sunday, when Yahoo! announced that SMS capability would be integrated into its Yahoo! Mail application as part of a larger overhaul, in an attempt to make it “more of a social application.
So know that we know, or at least have more proof, that texting is here to stay and has many practical applications beyond the most obvious, the bigger question becomes how do we leverage it in the association world to connect associations to our members and our members to each other? What steps do we have to take to make sure that it’s used effectively to create or derive additional member value? Many questions, no doubt, but many great opportunities as well.
Update: Thanks to a comment from Lisa Junker, I remembered that I actually had planned on sharing some great examples of how different industries are using Twitter. This list is not all-inclusive so feel free to add your own in the comments.
- Reporting
- Business
- Higher Education
- Productivity
- Affiliate Marketing
- Professional
- Marketing
- Using it for Good
- Life Saving
- Other Ideas: Here and Here
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My name is Dave Sabol and I work at the intersection of technology, online learning and knowledge management for 
During the “60 Tips in 75 Minutes” learning lab on member communication in Chicago, Ben Martin had some neat suggestions on using Twitter in associations. Off the top of my head, I recall that he mentioned using it for emergency and other notifications during events (if everyone registered for an event is also part of a Twitter group, they could automatically receive notifications to their cell phones if needed), for government affairs updates–even live from the floor of the legislature, and for internal staff notifications of office closings and similar things.
I also came across a wiki yesterday where folks are sharing how they have used Twitter to collaborate. Admittedly, Twitter isn’t the only text messaging option out there, but ideas that work on Twitter could be applied elsewhere, too.
Lisa, having attended the same presentation I remember Ben speaking to this point and it is a good start. At the same time, I believe we can do more and do it better with a service like and many others that are emerging. Nancy White’s wiki that you referenced is a great source of ideas and I do know of a few more sites that offer some other thoughts as well. There is no shortage of good ideas, just the challenge of determining which approaches create the most value for the constituency you are trying to serve.
OK I’m going to be devil’s advocate here. I totally agree with what you’re saying about the value of text messaging - as you know, since we met through the txtmob backchannel! But, the most recent item from your twitter feed on this homepage is from way back in May. Which illustrates my fear, that either I’ll get “too much information” from my friends’ twittering (is that a word?), or not enough. And if I start to twitter, am I then under an obligation to keep it up to date, at least daily? Obviously, I still think it’s a great tool for a specific period of time like a conference.
Maddie, a perfect example of the attention economy. Obviously any one of us have a finite amount of attention that we can dedicate to an endeavor. I started twittering for the purposes of conference and travel…as a means to keep my friends up to date.
However, much like blogging, it takes time and commitment to make it work. Perhaps, I should either start using it more regularly or remove it from my site until I am ready to dedicate the necessary attention to it. It also speaks to a bigger issue, which I will blog about later, in that I am so spread across different networks and tools that I sometimes find it a chore to keep them all updated.
As for your concerns, I do think you run the risk of too much information especially since you opt-in to twitter and the resulting messages are pushed to your phone. As for your other question, I do think that by advertising that you are using something you create the expectation that you will use it on a regular basis, so it could be a burden.
Great thoughts and I really appreciate your willingness to poke holes in my ideas. All it does is causes us to think about something more deeply and hopefully surface some new ideas.
Chiming in late… Statute of limitations not in effect yet. Twitter posts are commonly called “tweets.” I only read my tweets online — no cell phone delivery — yet. In addition to emergency communications, I see twitter as a kind of micro-blog. Tell me what’s on your mind in 140 characters or less. Perfect application for our ADD society! We have talked about using Twitter for legislative updates. The trouble is, Twitter is pretty unprofessional — are there any grown-up apps that have been coded thru their API?