On a recent episode of This Week in Tech (TWiT) with Leo Laporte, Jason Calacanis made a bold but interesting statement the status of how we connect with one another and the focus was on Twitter.
His comment on the podcast was that Twitter has become the new dial tone for our generation. This century alone has already seen drastic changes in how we communicate with one another, and Twitter is becoming more and more established as the communication form of preference. I'd like to elaborate on this topic and field your comments as well.
Voice Mail Era Comes to An End?
As much press as Twitter has gotten recently, there is no doubt that when used accordingly, it has become a key form of communication for B2B, B2C, and between friends, family, and those seeking information. Taking ourselves away from the desktop client specifically, almost every major mobile device has a Twitter application that is constantly connected, and quickly becoming the way we send messages.
The days of calling and leaving a voice mail are slowly dwindling. Will it ever truly go away, perhaps not, but overall more people are relying on sending a quick message via the micro-blogging platform whether it's a message into the stream, or a direct message to a specific person. Twitter message are quickly becoming the new voice mail, and the new recording device of our daily habits and whereabouts.
More people are found to be texting and tweeting on their actual mobile devices than actually talking on the phone. This phenomena is not to be overlooked and is something that I think all of us can chime in on.
Who Needs A Phone Number?
Earlier this year, on a podcast I did for Tech in Twenty, we discussed how our Twitter handles are becoming the new calling card when we meet people. We've this happen at conferences, "unconferences", trainings, in dating and relationships, and casual business settings. Even more specifically, when people ask for information, it's becoming almost second nature to ask if they are on Twitter. Typically if you say yes they just want the Twitter handle and they can get the rest of the information from there. An interesting change in dynamics of how we associate with one another.
Note, that I'm not saying this has permeated into every sector of the industry, perhaps it's more prevalent in the media industry, but the trend is growing.
There's been an obvious rise in more people including their Twitter handle on their point of contact information. More are including it on their business cards, websites, and blogs. Are we seeing less of an importance being placed on our phone numbers and more on our social network profiles? And what is this saying about our communication habits?
I'd like to hear from my readers their thoughts on this. Are you using your social network profiles (Twitter or otherwise) as your main points of contact, or do you still rely on the email and phone number? I'd be interested in seeing what sectors of our industries are adapting and which have not.
Photo Credit elycefeliz
