Do you miss the days when your home phone was the only way to communicate? If you were home you got the call, if you were out you missed it. Now you have to check your home phone, your cell phone, your e-mail account, and Facebook messages. If you are a little lost between the internet, e-mail, messaging, chatting, and Skyping then you are in luck. Here is a short guide to all the ways technology and the internet lets us communicate with people all over the world.
- E-mail. Just like postal mail, except quicker! You have to have an e-mail address and know the address of the person you are messaging. Setting up an account is free through most companies. You type up a letter and hit send. The person you e-mail responds at their convenience.
- Chatting is not just done while sipping coffee on the porch anymore. Many different websites have this feature including AIM and Facebook. If you are online and one of your friends is online, you can have a conversation in real time by messaging each other back and forth.
- Skype is a audio visual communications tool. You must have a microphone, web camera and a Skype account. You will be able to see and hear the person you are talking to, which is really nice. Some cell phones are equipped for audio visual communications now. If you do not have a camera, you can use Skype to make free long distance phone calls from you computer.
- Texting (or messaging) is done through a cell phone. A message is sent from your phone to another phone. Sort of like e-mail, but between phones. Usually these messages are pretty short and do not use a lot of formalities. “Hey we need milk” not “Hi, if you are on your way home and can stop at the store could you pick up some milk?”.