Group Texting: The Next Big Thing in Mobile Apps?
From Ken Banks, kiwanja.net
It’s the day of your group’s demonstration. You’ve spent days coordinating logistics and now your team and supporters are on the ground. What’s the best way to communicate with your team and let them know of changes and updates? Calling or texting each of your contacts is time consuming. What if you could quickly and easily send a text to all of your team members using one short code?
A number of companies have recently released free mobile apps that make it possible to send text messages between a small closed group of people. Group texting provides the same utility as a chat room, but via SMS. A text sent by any one group member is received by all other members. While the apps have more functionality on a smartphone, each program still works on any phone with texting capabilities. An added bonus: You can also initiate voice-based conference calls between your group members. Two apps we’re hearing a lot about are Fast Society and GroupMe.
The Fast Society app can download for free on iTunes or via m.fastsociety.com on your mobile web browser. All you have to do is invite your friends, choose the length of time you want your group to last for, and then text or call your team. All chats are sent via one SMS shortcode and up to 15 people can be included in the chat. As of now, Fast Society chats can last between three hours and three days. The best part about Fast Society is it’s easy to use and set up—there are no signups, no usernames, and no passwords; all you have to do is share your phone number.
Cofounder Matthew Rosenberg initially came up with the idea at a concert: “We were at a Bloc Party concert in NYC and having a hard time getting our friends together; it was impossible to coordinate everyone in a group. Then we thought, we should just build it ourselves.”
GroupMe is another app that can be downloaded to the iPhone. Don't have an iPhone? You can sign up for the service on their website. All you have to do is add your name and phone number to get a unique phone number assigned to your group. It differs slightly from Fast Society because chat groups do not have an expiration date. Groups can be as large as 25 members.
Right now, these apps only work in the U.S., but both groups intend to launch international versions in the future.
Also, don't forget that while the apps may be free, standard text messaging rates apply!
These applications differ from bulk SMS platforms like TxtMob and FrontlineSMS. Bulk SMS apps are great for sending out a mass message to a very large group of people. For example, TxtMob was first used by protesters at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions in 2004 to warn about the location of police, to organize rallies, and to direct volunteer medics. But with bulk messaging services, users typically must opt in to the service and verify ownership of their mobile phones.
Scholar Manuel Castells and his colleagues have been critical of bulk messaging, arguing, “While these types of services effectively brought together communities of like-minded people for the purpose of activism, they lack the character of direct person-to-person texting based on interpersonal relationships, because users have to sign up to send or receive messages through the service provider’s server.”
Here’s where group texting could fill the void. Rather than worry that you might indirectly receive messages that aren’t of importance to you, you are texting with people you already have established relationships with. There is no need to install any software on your computer or mobile, and it provides a new way to communicate with people in your direct personal, social, or professional network. And in the case of Fast Society, the groups are temporary.
When the founders of Fast Society developed the app, they thought it would be useful when you are attending social events like a sports game or concert with your friends. But think about the potential that the app could have for people collaborating on an issue campaign or organizing a protest.
Right now, the U.S. a test case for the value of group texting, but the apps could potentially add more value once introduced to countries with lower levels of internet access and more reliance on mobile phones. How would you use group texting? Do you think these apps are a good idea?
