Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The benefit of SMS

Many people think the character limit of SMS is a drawback to the service and prefer e-mail instead. While e-mail has many benefits, I believe the limitation of characters of SMS is a positive.

About 95% of SMS are read - why do you think that is? Because to get your point across in 160 characters is efficient and it takes only seconds to read. People hold off reading e-mail because it's just another task to filter through the junk. I have actually text someone to let them know I sent an e-mail that needs their attention.

I wish I could hold face to face conversations with a 160 character limit. People ramble on for minutes only to get to the point later. Think about it. The next conversation you have, take the first 20 words the person says and see if it translates in to a meaningful message.

Face to face conversations and e-mails are great. Texts are not for every situation and my point is not that one will take over the other. My point is that the limitation of 160 characters for SMS is useful and should be seen as a benefit of text messages. Think about what you are communicating. Is it something that you need to describe at length or can you get the same point across in 160 characters?

For this post, here is the point in less than 160 characters: Get to the point. Say what you mean. Everyone's time is valuable.