Can You Hear Me Now? The Evolution of Mobile

 It may be hard to believe, but I have only had a smartphone for two years. I was the proud owner of a flip phone throughout my middle school and college years. Sure, it had its drawbacks. Not being able to go on the Internet and download apps were the biggest disadvantages. Now that I have a smartphone, I could not imagine my life without it. Mobile communications have come a long way since the 90’s. Instead of friends calling each other on a landline, they are chatting on Facebook Messenger. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, people are using mobile apps like Zoom and WebEx to have video conversations from their homes. Strategic communicators trying to bolster their campaigns can take advantage of the various mobile technologies available. Mobile is changing the way strategic communicators present messages and interact with their online audience. In today’s discussion, I will talk about how mobile communications can be used as a tool for strategic communicators.


 

Conquering The Digital Divide

Mobile can only be used as a tool for strategic communicators if there are people able to view the digital content. Unfortunately, there are some people who lack the funds or accessibility to have internet access. In a 2019 report from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Condition of Education, “just 49% of families making less than $20,000 a year had home internet access. And of the families who didn’t have home internet access, 34% said they could not afford it” (Taylor, 2020). These families were surveyed in 2017. Globally, an average of 33 percent of children and young people have internet access at home in 2020, according to the How Many Children and Youth Have Internet Access at Home report, a joint effort by UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). So how can we conquer the divide? There must be more affordable and accessible internet options for lower-income people.

Nationwide 5G could come in between the digital divide. “Because the future of 5G is not bound by the limitations of geography, it can serve as the primary backhaul technology—the virtual girders, trusses, cables, and concrete—to one day build the bridges so many need to cross the digital divide” (Taylor, 2020). Without online access, more Americans with lower incomes have been putting more reliance on their smartphone. “As of early 2021, 27% of adults living in households earning less than $30,000 a year are smartphone-only internet users – meaning they own a smartphone but do not have broadband internet at home. This represents a substantial increase from 12% in 2013” (Vogels, 2021). The rise in smartphone internet users is putting desktops to the wayside. More people prefer to do tasks that were once done on their computer on their smartphone. This is helpful for those who are traveling and do not want to carry around a laptop.

Mobile Friendly Websites

Strategic communicators must make sure that their company’s website is tailored for smartphone users. “Google says 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40% visit a competitor’s site instead” (Lovestrand, 2019). A company wants their site’s messages to stand out, not its technical errors. Messages are at the forefront of a mobile site because of the limited space. “When writing content for your mobile site, strive to be concise, purposeful, and readable with headers and callouts to help your reader quickly navigate your site's information” (Lovestrand, 2019). Strategic communicators must develop messages that can stick out from all the online clutter. A company’s messages will not have an impact on a smartphone user if there is too much noise on its website. There needs to be a balance between text and multimedia content on a mobile website. Because of the small space, there cannot be long texts that take up most of the site. It must be broken apart by videos or other multimedia options.

Social Media Mobile Users

Since social media platforms first burst onto the scene in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, there has been a rising increase in the number of global online users. In 2019, Monica Anderson, Courtney Johnson, Jingjing Jiang, Lee Rainie, Laura Silver and Aaron Smith conducted a Pew Research Center survey on mobile connectivity in emerging economies. The survey had 11 emerging and developing countries as participants. One result that came out of their survey was that Facebook was the most widely used social media platform among online users. “Among the seven online social media platforms and messaging apps asked about on this survey, a median of 62% use Facebook. Facebook is most popular in Jordan and Lebanon, where about seven-in-ten adults say they currently use it” (Anderson, Johnson, Jiang, Rainie, Silver and Smith, 2019). Other platforms like Instagram and Twitter were among the least popular in the countries that were surveyed. According to Statista, there were 4.08 billion active mobile social media users worldwide in October 2020. “As of January 2019, some 61 percent of users in North America accessed social media via mobile while the global mobile social penetration rate was 42 percent” (Statista, 2020). Strategic communicators need to be aware of which social media sites are gaining the most traction by online users. A message that is posted on Facebook might attract more of an audience than Twitter. The two platforms offer different ways to display content. Twitter is meant for real-time conversations. Facebook is meant for ongoing conversations.

It is a good idea for strategic communicators to put a message out on more than one social media platform to reach a wider audience. However, when publishing messages on social media platforms, do not cross-post, which is described as displaying the same content across social media platforms. The context of a message can be lost when it is published across different social media accounts. It is important to interact with users and not post cookie-cutter messages.

In conclusion, strategic communicators should take advantage of mobile technology that will edge them over their competitors. As mobile use continues to rise, strategic communicators must make sure their sites are catered to smartphone users. People will not waste time on a site that they have difficulty using. The future is mobile. Strategic communicators need to adapt to mobile technology or risk losing users.

References:

Anderson, M., Jiang, J., Johnson, C., Lee, R., Silver, L., & Smith, A. (2020, August 25). Use of Smartphones and Social Media is Common Across Most Emerging Economies. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/03/07/use-of-smartphones-and-social-media-is-common-across-most-emerging-economies/.

Lovestrand, E. (2019, November 26). The Importance of Mobile-Friendly Websites in 2019. August Ash. https://www.augustash.com/our-blog/mobile-friendly-websites-2019.

Statista Research Center. (2020). Mobile Social Media Worldwide. Statista. https://www.statista.com/topics/2478/mobile-social-networks/.

Taylor, K. (2020, May 29). T-mobile for Business Brand Voice: It's Time to Close the Digital Divide. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tmobile/2020/05/22/its-time-to-close-the-digital-divide/?sh=42afb35519b5.

Vogels, E. A. (2021, June 22). Digital Divide Persists Even as Americans with Lower Incomes Make Gains in Tech Adoption. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/06/22/digital-divide-persists-even-as-americans-with-lower-incomes-make-gains-in-tech-adoption/.

 

 

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