Tag Archives: sms

My kingdom for brevity

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Less is often more than enough. Yet some seem to yearn for more.

How can you say anything meaningful in 140 characters or less, ask the verbose plebs.

Send you an email containing 500 characters or less, I am not able to do that, they moan again.

It is an utter agony sometimes to communicate with [verbose] people.

You would think a generation that grew up with SMS, forcing them to send text no longer than 160 characters, would be able to handle character limits imposed by Twitter and Shortmail.

But alas, the philestines seems to love bathing their receivers with a needless amount of words.

A generation which wants everything done yesterday suddenly have time to waste on verbosity and poor communication skills.

My kingdom for brevity, my dear verbose simpleton.

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Do not call me

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4

Some might think, as a journalist, I’m mad as hatter for not wanting to be called on the phone. Telling people “I will not pick up” unless I’m expecting their call.

There are better ways to pass on a message this day of age.

I usually are at arms reach of my iPhone or iPad. In other words, I will be notified within seconds if you send me a SMS, email or a Shortmail.

“But I need to talk to you now,” is a too common argument, which I loathe and find utterly selfish.

Oh God, I’m such a selfish bastard!

Or am I?

That the caller assumes I’m just sitting there, waiting for the phone to ring is not just selfish, but a bit ignorant – if I may be so honest.

If I want to talk to you, I want to be able to give you my full attention. Also, a quick message can and should only be delivered via any form of messaging – such as SMS, email or Shortmail.

Why?

By sending me a SMS, an email or a Shortmail, I will have your statement recorded. The luxury of giving it my 100 percent focus when I’m not busy.

Regardless if it’s spoken or written, at the end of the day, what matters is how well you communicate your message.