Overwhelming communication options?

[Optic]

I've been thinking...

 

During the dialup days here I remember there were much less options to communicate online. IRC chatrooms, Instant messaging clients (MSN Messenger, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo), email, forums... they were all a lot more popular back then.

 

Then social media and sharing platforms came along. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, the list goes on. All these are integrated with Smartphones now, all with their own unique feeds. Even if they're all merged into one centralised feed, that's one heck of a lot of information to filter through if you use all those services.

 

And don't forget the traditional mobile phone functions: SMS and making phone calls.

 

Ever get the feeling all these services are screaming at you for your attention, making you decide which ones to use from time to time often?

[Taalen]

Hm, not really to be honest.

 

I lean towards using Facebook as my main method of communication. I basically only browse AN and the LoL forums now and I occasionally check and update Tumblr.

 

IM and email have gone out the window, at least in my age bracket. Yahoo! Messenger is the only IM I use because it's what the folk use in Philippines.

 

Email, well, my original email is flooded with just junk, there's some stuff in there that I used to consider important but not anymore, so I've made a new account and using it for Tumblr, Facebook and AN, but no communication through it.

 

With Facebook mobile being free, it ends up being used more than SMS and phonecalls.

Other services like Instagram, Twitter, Reddit (hm, sometimes I stumble across things that interest me here) don't really interest me

 

[Optic]

Hm, not really to be honest.

I lean towards using Facebook as my main method of communication. I basically only browse AN and the LoL forums now and I occasionally check and update Tumblr.

You make some good points, now that I think about it I think I'm just being nostalgic.

 

Regarding Facebook looks like I've reached a nice compromise for the IM nostalgia I've been getting. Facebook offers a "Messenger for Windows" app:

https://www.facebook.com/about/messenger

 

It basically runs only the Messaging function of Facebook as a toolbar icon and mirrors the right Chat sidebar from the web interface. You also get fancy pop-up notifications for Facebook notifications such as getting tagged, etc. I think it's great using it old IM style having Facebook chat conversations in a separate window as opposed to leaving the web interface open all the time.

[chiefyamaki]

I am happy with a phone that can make calls. and Facebook is fine too.