Sending traditional SMS is slowly becoming out of style. Although the majority still use this service regularly, it’s quite obvious that more and more people are shifting to communication that’s more focused on messaging applications that are connected to the Internet.
Being able to access the Internet through mobile data on phones means that friends and acquaintances can have better conversations. Though SMS is still quite a useful way to communicate, it lacks the flavor of livelier and more versatile conversations. Smiley faces on SMS is bland. It’s also unable to output popular, new generation emoticons.
To be fair, SMS still has its worth in the world of telecommunication. Its non-proprietary and universal nature makes it possible for people to establish communication even without the use of specific applications. There is no exclusivity.
But then again, it’s not that difficult to download the most popular applications used by friends and family members. Sure, the phone’s app drawer may look cluttered, as will the notification bar when several apps fire up when receiving messages from different people. But it’s nothing that modern smartphones aren’t able to handle.
One of the most notable and frequently used messaging application is Kik. The number of users that use the application on a regular basis is more than enough reason to have it downloaded to one’s smartphone with no questions asked. It’s disk space well spent.
There are a lot of creative kik usernames, which is an interesting feature of the messaging app. Although this makes it difficult for real life friends to immediately establish a connection, especially those who have usernames that have no semblance of their real names, it’s not really something to groan about. They can provide each other’s usernames through social media, for starters. Or they can use the trusty SMS feature of their phones.