Key Advancements in Communication

Today’s business world continues to be shaped by technological advancements in communication. An online Master of Arts in Strategic Communication can prepare you with the knowledge to communicate professionally across all media.

Email was invented in 1972 by Ray Tomlinson as a simple electronic communication method. The at symbol was chosen from the keyboard to denote sending a message from one computer to another. Over 108.7 billion emails are sent and received per day.

Text Messaging was first sent in 1992 by Neil Papworth who used a computer to send Merry Christmas to a friend’s cell phone. Text messages are more likely to be read than their email counterparts. Event planning, recruitment, and company emergency communications can be sent via text.

Video Conferencing using Skype was released in 2003 making video conferencing mainstream. In 2013, Google Hangouts was introduced, a communication tool which integrates video chat with instant messaging, and allows for meetings with up to 10 people at a time. Video conferencing has created many opportunities for businesses to increase productivity and economical savings.

While Social Media existed before Facebook in 2004, this social media giant transformed communication between consumers and companies. Today over 30 million businesses are now on Facebook. With 1.49 billion monthly users, this is the largest platform for consumer engagement.

Sources:
http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/email.html
http://www.radicati.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Email-Statistics-Report-2014-2018-Executive-Summary.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_messaging
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/025bf606-020a-48e9-89bf-99adda13e9b1/entry/benefits_of_video_conferencing_in_the_workplace?lang=en
https://blog.textmarks.com/sms-for-internal-communications/
http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/03/facebook-30m-small-businesses/