Texting or SMS (Short Messaging Service): The Pros and Cons

Text messaging is a very popular communication tool. I am not someone who likes to have conversation over text, and yet I can still send anywhere between 450 and 800 text messages a month. I find it to be an efficient way to learn someone’s eta, to make plans to meet up at a later date, or even decide what to have for dinner. When asking my teenage brother, text messaging is the only way he communicates with his friends if they’re not face to face.

Today, texting is starting to gain popularity with the business and marketing communities. However, just as with instant messaging, there are some pros and cons to consider before communicating through text in the workplace.

Pros:

• Allows one to be accessible from anywhere
• Can be a silent form of communication, preventing the distraction of others
• A single message can be sent to multiple contacts at once, beneficial for news alerts, and marketing
• Available at a low cost
• Quick delivery and response, eliminating phone tag
• Almost every text message received is read by the receiver, unlike emails which are often overlooked or unopened

Cons:

• Can be a distraction, used for social reasons rather than business; linked to traffic accidents and inappropriate uses, example: sexting
• Security risks, disclosure, can be unable to save messages to meet legal requirements
• Minimal characters allowed in a message, can result in the use to text message slang which is not considered professional
• Difficult to convey and apply appropriate tone to a message

All things considered, SMS is gaining ground in today’s business community.

References:

Guffey, M.E., Loewy, D., Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2010/2013) Business Communication Process and Product. United States of America. Nelson

Jain, A. (n.d.) SMS marketing – advantages and disadvantages. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.atuljain7.com/sms-marketing-%E2%80%93-advantages-and-disadvantages

Texting in the workplace and it’s pros and cons. (2013, April 24) [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://tekgabber.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/texting-in-the-workplace-and-its-pros-and-cons/

Top 10 benefits of SMS marketing. (n.d.) [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.simplycast.com/blog/top-10-benefits-sms-marketing/