Communications

A brief rundown: my perspective on modern communications methods

Instant Messaging
+ can get an instant response
+ offers some privacy
+ appear offline can mask the fact that one spends far too much time on the computer while staying 'connected'
- others may expect an instant response
- growth of spam messages linked to viruses
-requires the involvement of a conversation

Group Instant Messaging
+ groupness
- useless messages clog up the flow
- conversation can move at a ridiculous pace
- adds a disporportionate amount of useless bytes to message history

Facebook* Wall
* or other social networking site
+ good for suggestive propagation ie. I think everyone should know but I'll just tell one person and let everyone who wants to know eavesdrop
+ wall postings can become unposted
+ largely reply in own time
+ doesn't need much involvement
- public
- requires effort to censor
- latency in censorship

Facebook Status
+ forum thread-like in nature
+ allows for group conversations
- sometimes it's best not to aware of that information; ignorance is bliss

Facebook* Mail
+ perhaps less spam than other mailboxes
+ allows for compartmentalisation of friends/ don't let them clog up important mailboxes
- semi-redundant if email is primary
- adds steps from email notification - link - reply in webpage

Email
+ handles attachments
+ suitable for large amounts of information
+ respond largely in your own time
- can get messy if there are multiple issues dealt in one message
% stacked Gmail conversations make it easy to sort through messages

SMS
+ affordable (esp with free SMS services)
+ possible to reduce ambiguity
+ still possible to communicate in noisy environments or where a call would be unacceptable
- slower text input
- difficult to insert mathematical symbols
- unsure about message delivery success
- people tend to forget to reply if they read it then put their phone away
% stacked SMS conversations in Windows Mobile 6.1

Telephone Call
+ more likely to be an instant response (or no response at all)
+ natural voice input (no encode/decode to text)
+ additional information trasmitted (much easier to be successfully sarcastic)
- costly
- doesn't work in noisy areas

Postal Service
+ good for onward sharing of p2p data/ other physical goods
+ cheap if using uncancelled stamps
- takes some effort and materials
- delay in sending

Video link
+ better for verifying identity
- bandwidth/quota requirements
- perhaps you don't really want to see them

In person
+ more likely to get instant response
+ can transmit physical goods
+ unlimited duration
+ shouldn't cost any money
+ suitable for more complex ideas
- they might not want to see you
- more difficult to organise
- people can get annoying quite quickly