Tag: SMS

Social media behind decrease in Christmas text messages

The last few years it has become quite common to send greetings to friends and family on Christmas Eve via text messages, SMS. But this year telecom operators in Sweden, Norway and Denmark report a significant decrease in the number of messages. In Sweden, the four operators Tre (3), Tele 2, Telia and Telenor distributed a total of 72.5 million text messages on Christmas Eve, down from 76.5 million in 2009. In Norway, Telenor report a decrease with 5 million text messages compared to 2008, this year Norwegian customers sent 17.1 million SMS. The same pattern can be found in Denmark, where Telia report a decrease by 1 million SMS.

The operators claim that the reason behind the lower volumes is an increased use of Facebook and other social media. The conclusion is supported by the fact that data traffic has increased during this Christmas compared to previous years, most likely because customers are taking photos and uploading them to Facebook and other social networks, where they share it with friends.

Fired via email? At least it’s not SMS

You may have read about the US consumer electronics retailer RadioShack that laid off 400 employees via email a year ago. “The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated,” the ominous message supposedly read.

And it seems that this practice is not uncommon in the US as a way to avoid face-to-face conflicts. According to a survey by the Marlin Company, 10 per cent of employees say their company has used email to fire or lay off employees.

In the UK however, they do it via text message. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovitj apparently fired coach José Mourinho via SMS. What’s next, getting fired via Facebook? Maybe you should think twice before accepting that social network invitation from your boss…

Via Shel Holtz.