|
Newsletters
|
|
|
|
|
Piece Provided by TheFeature.com
Top 10 list of SMS etiquette
Text messaging is one of the simplest and most
useful means of mobile communication. No one can doubt the popularity of
text messaging and short messaging service (SMS) in particular - more than
50 billion SMS messages were sent across the world's GSM networks in the
first quarter of 2001, a fivefold increase over the previous year - and
there's no slowdown in sight.
ESPOO, Finland, June 29 -- A text messaging (and mobile phone use in general) grows in popularity,
excitement over using new technology clashes head-on with common courtesy,
not surprisingly giving rise to a mobile-phone manners backlash. So to help
you avoid SMS miscues and text-message missteps, TheFeature.com composed a
top 10 list of texting guidelines.
- Common courtesy still rules. Contrary to popular belief,
composing an SMS while you're in a face-to-face conversation with someone is
just about as rude as taking a voice call.
- Remember that SMS is informal. SMS shouldn't be used for
formal invitations or to dump your girlfriend or boyfriend. The casualness
of SMS diminishes the strength and meaning of the message.
- Don't get upset if you don't get a reply. Before you text
someone and get frustrated at the lack of a response, be sure that they're
familiar with how to use the service, and that their carrier will accept
messages from yours.
- Be aware of your tone. It is extremely difficult to discern
tone in text messages, just as in e-mail. What seems to you to be a
completely innocuous message may be grossly misinterpreted by the recipient,
causing certain discomfort if not irreparable harm.
- Don't SMS while you're driving. Talking on the phone is bad
enough. You won't know what hit you - or what you hit - if you are pounding
out a message on your keyboard.
- Leave the slang to the kids. Don't expect your stodgy
superiors at work to be hip to the lingo of the SMS streets. And don't
expect to win points with your kids by trying to be cool, either.
- Remember that SMS can be traced. Anonymous messages - if you
must send them -are still best sent from Web sites.
- Be conscientious of others' schedules. Don't assume that
because you are awake, working, not busy, or sober that the person you're
texting is as well. Many a pleasant slumber have been interrupted by
recurring "beep-beep...beep-beeps" of messages.
- If it's immediate, make a voice call. If you can't get
through and your text message is ignored, there's probably a good reason.
There are still some times when people don't even have a thumb free to
respond.
- Remember that your phone does have an off button. There are
very, very few things in the world that absolutely cannot wait.
About TheFeature.com
Nokia's TheFeature.com (http://www.thefeature.com), an award winning Web
site, is the mobile Internet industry's premier thinking space where
industry professionals gather to learn about and discuss issues affecting
the industry and share their visions of a mobile future. Selected as
Editor's Choice by Wireless Week, Popular Science and Smart Money,
TheFeature.com has quickly gained a name for itself as a leading voice of
the wireless revolution.
The comments and opinions expressed on TheFeature.com are solely those of
its writers and content partners and are not official statements by Nokia or
any of its business partners or affiliates.
Further information:
Kathleen Lane
Editor-in-Chief
Tel. +358 40 558 5678
kathleen@thefeature.com
Nina Venäläinen
Communications Officer
Tel. +358 40 837 9396
nina@thefeature.com
|
|
|
