From BusinessWeek Online: Cell phone users spend lots of time talking into their devices, but they generally communicate with very few people. Just how few? Would you believe four? Here is an excellent summary defining our new six communication channels.

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The lone fixed-line telephone has given way to multiple fixed and mobile phones, e-mail, instant messaging (IM), text messaging, voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) free (or near-free) telephony and videoconferencing, and other interactive channels such as blogs and wikis. 

Here is an excellent excerpt on how the study defined our new communication channels. 

– The fixed phone is the collective channel: "a shared organizational tool for the whole household," with most calls done in "public," because they are relevant to other members of the household. Only 25% are done "privately," from one's bedroom or study.

– Mobile voice is "the micro coordination channel": It is "the preferred channel for last-minute adjustment of plans or updates on where people are and what they are doing." Surprisingly, "80 percent of all exchanges are with only four people."

– SMS, or short messaging, is "for intimacy, emotions, and efficiency. Only the most intimate sphere of friends and family are contacted by SMS, and the content of the messages is often related to 'grooming' and emotional exchanges."

– E-mail is "the administrative channel," used to support online activities such as travel reservations and shopping, for coordination with extended social groups (clubs, friends, acquaintances), or for exchanging pictures, music, and other content with close social networks.

– IM and VoIP are "the continuous channels": "users open an instant messaging channel for the day and then just keep it open in the background while they do other activities; they multitask — and step in and out of a conversation." This starts to apply to VoIP as well (think Skype).

– Blogging is the broader networking channel: "Personal pages are often primarily a center of communication with friends and people online in general."

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 19th, 2006 at 7:37 pm and is filed under Noteworthy News, Your Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.