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