The explosion of the mobile device

Hello all! Welcome back to my blog. I hope you all have been enjoying my blogs for the last couple of weeks as I have truly enjoyed writing them. I never knew that this could be so interesting. Well, this week we are talking about mobile devices. This definitely fits as an emerging media. The mobile phone has shown an increasingly number of people using it to access the internet over the last few years. Whether it be updating your Facebook status, comparing prices on amazon to things in the store (which is something I do all the time gotta save money lol) streaming music through iheart radio or Pandora the mobile phone experience has definitely evolved over the years. What this discussion is this week is how can a strategic communication professional use mobile devices in an efficient and ethical manner. Well, a strategic communication professional can use mobile devices to get instant news out. With your mobile device you can take notes, take pictures, use the mobile versions of word, powerpoint etc. and submit your work as the news happens either to your blog, your boss, etc. By the minute news with the help of a single mobile device seems like the future to me. No longer having to carry a notepad, tape recorder or even a face to face interview now that we have facetime, Skype and other video chat options. So, if it's easier, what's the problem? Well some people do have a problem with it. Easier is not so much always better. Mobile devices have the potential to devastate someone's privacy with gps integration to locate people. Hack into their device and get passwords, bank information etc. The increase in mobile users is really making it critical to have better security measures in place.

The Underprivileged

One of the articles we read this week talks about using mobile applications for the underprivileged to provide services in developing countries. I think that is a great idea. There are so many mobile phones and devices on the market now that it would be relatively easy to get a phone and provide those services that people need. They just need to make sure that there is no backlash with the usage of the mobile devices such is in the story Dr. Padgett told us about Dr. Mayo and those villagers using the mobile phone to find jobs and leave the village.

Mobile phones disrupting?

Now this is an issue that I want to discuss. The mobile phone is a great device with great features to make life a lot easier. I am noticing though with being a teacher now that they can be very disruptive to the learning that goes on in the classroom. I graduated in 2002 when mobile devices particularly smartphones weren't around yet and weren't a big issue. Today however, a lot of my students are always messing with their smartphones and I'm having to take them away. It is already difficult to retain their attention but the boom of smartphones has really taken their attention. A lot of phone companies do have an option that you can setup that limits the other smartphones on the account such as when the internet can be used and when phone calls can be made. They can be set so their phones would be useless during school hours and thus have no choice but to pay attention in class. Now their our advantages to smartphones for educational purposes such as using as a second screen, access to diagrams, articles, essays and other academic information.

Mobile Too

One of the other topics that has been discussed this week is mobile first and if companies should start implementing mobile first. My opinion about it is the same as one of the articles that we read. Although the smartphone market has exploded over the last few years, there are still millions of people who have not yet adopted smartphones as their primary phone and so I think that they television companies etc. should adopt a mobile too approach. Whether it be television, radio, newspapers etc. with multiple options you can satisfy all of your consumers. We were also talking about WTSU which is Troy University's radio station. They are in a small market and doesn't get a lot of advertising. The discussion we were having was should they adopt a mobile first strategy and if so is that wise for a community radio station in a small market community. What I thought about it is a mobile first approach is not a good approach for this radio station. They first need to grow their audience with the students. Make the students more aware that the radio station exists. Since there are students at multiple campuses and count for a total of 29,689 there should no problem getting the word out because the students can make the station aware to people outside of the university. Then they can use social media to promote, use mobile devices to send notifications about upcoming events, shows etc. Before all of that though, their greatest marketing tool is their students. So use it!

Another way that mobile devices can help with is in hospitals. I actually took the time and read and article from the JAMIA, which is the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. In the article, it discusses the impact of mobile devices by providing instant access to information, resources, and people at the right time and place. Think about how the mobile devices can help with rapid response, error prevention and data management. Think about how more lives can be saved and making sure there are no errors in medicine and treatment being given. But back to Strategic Communication. In closing, mobile devices is definitely the future of how we access content but, to go with a mobile first or mobile only strategy isn't a good idea. At least not yet. I hope you all have enjoyed my blog for this week and keep an eye out for next weeks blog. Until next time.