Is WhatsApp the Future of all things Communication?

Yipeeee!! I can now tell my story on WatsApp and guess what? I can select who my audience is.

In case you haven’t noticed yet, Watsapp has introduced a new kind of status. A kind of status that gives you the option of telling your story your own way either through pictures, videos and written words. We heard this announcement a few weeks back and today we woke up, looked at our phones and voom the new status has arrived! No need to switch off and on your phone. No need to update app. Isn’t that wonderful?

In as much as the new WatsApp feature is similar to Instagram and SnapChat stories people are pretty excited because of the quality of the reach. Just a few moments ago, in a conversation with my colleagues, I heard one say “Snapchat is in trouble mehn.” While another said “Instagram live will see fewer users.” I can’t but help agree with that because WatsApp seem to be the most common platform for communication. Once a user has your mobile number, the person automatically shows up on your WatsApp contact. No need for user name, email, password and the likes. Life is just easy with WatsApp.

Now let’s take a bend in this conversation that will lead to the essence of this write-up.

More people than ever agrees that WatsApp is the simplest platform for communication. No intricacies and all that that comes with innovation. Groups and individuals can enjoy the privacy of their conversation, share files and documents without fear, believing that the recipient receives it instantly. These days, when you want to share a file with someone, the person asks first for your number that is available on WhatsApp. This is how much WatsApp has made live easy for users.

Is WatsApp the new Email?

Most organisations have WatsApp forums for staff members and management. Because of its instant ability and less formal status, many offices now share information, files, pass instructions and hold meetings on WhatsApp. The use of emails have drastically reduced and everyone uses WhatsApp for communication. Religious groups hold prayer meetings on the platform, groups hold conferences on WhatsApp, lectures take place on WhatsApp, family meetings happens on WhatsApp. I am hoping money can be sent via WhatsApp. That’s what’s left.

With the new available feature, businesses will have their customer care built largely on the WhatsApp platform. Businesses can now give customers minute by minute updates of their product or service and this can be accessed for 24 hours. Isn’t it awesome that all you need to communicate can be found on WhatsApp?

So, is WhatsApp going to be the future of all things communication?

Well, let's keep our fingers crossed. 

I do Finger Prints. Not Passwords

Long press your phone to unlock...

Please insert your password to unlock phone...

After four attempts please wait for 60 seconds before trying again... 

Many of us are conversant with these situations. Some even go as far as seeking the services of mobile phone repairmen to help unlock the phone from the back end because they cannot remember the password of their phones, despite the fact that over the years, phone manufacturers have made efforts to simplify the art of securing the contents of our mobile phones by restricting the password to four characters only.

The reason for all these stress is to ensure the protection of owner’s information from prying eyes. Phones are so personal to their owners to the extent that some people feel incomplete and sometimes depressed without their phones.

COURTESY MARKETINGPROFS.COM

So with the fuss about passwords and information security, smart mobile phone manufacturers are making life easier for consumers through the use of Finger print mode. All you need to do is register your fingerprint on the smartphone by long pressing certain areas as prompted by the phone and it automatically registers. That way no one else can have access to the phone without your permission, making your information automatically secured. This saves people worrying about the security of the information like their banking and card details, pictures and other files, especially when their phones are stolen.

THE PROCESS OF INPUTING FINGERPRINT ON AN INFIXIX PHONE COURTESY TECHSNG

FINGERPRINT CENSOR OF AN IPHONE

This is obviously the future for any smart digital device that as to do with communication – Mobile phones, Tabs, IPads maybe Laptops and Desktops too.

Smart brands have begun to leverage on it, thereby grabbing the customers of other products because of the simplicity of the process of securing your information on your phones. Other smart device manufacturers should jump into the ocean of fingerprinting because what consumers want is complete ownership without hassle. Although this innovation comes with yet to be improved disadvantages, finger print enabled phones is the way forward.

So, happy finger printing!

Love isn’t blind. It is Online.

Decades ago finding love has to be through your surname or parental influence. The possibility of the scion of a wealthy man falling in love with a farmer’s daughter was unheard of. In fact, such things were kept secret because it was a taboo and if both juveniles insisted on defying tradition they either elope or are exiled.

Do people still elope?

Anyway, with the advent of technology the issue of love has metamorphosed to the extent that the young ones now determine who they get married to and nine out of ten times, the parents have little or no choice but to accept the spouse that is presented to them by their children.

“Ehen my son. So, how did you two meet?” A typical African Father asks.

“We met on Facebook.” The son smilingly responds to satisfy his father’s curiosity.

“I don’t understand. How can you say you met your future wife on Facebook…?”  The father goes on and on. This is what happens in some home where the parents are not digitally savvy. They are yet to grasp that a new community has emerged and has disrupted the traditional way of getting things done.

 

Like I always say “Disruption makes the world go further.”

A lot of people these days meet online, date online and get married online. Trust me. This is not an exaggeration. There are cases of people who met via online communities like Facebook. They only chatted, made calls and face timed until it was time to meet their parents.

Percentages of people who recently met on or offline between forbes.com

Love is going virtual.

Who knows? A time will come when introductions and wedding ceremonies will be done virtually especially in a case where both parties concerned reside continents apart and have tight schedules due to work and business pressure. A time is coming when the priest does not have to leave the sanctuary to go bless the new couple. All they need do is apply online through some online platform and then the priest sends a video or audio file of the vows and the blessing or simply do live streaming of the vows. Wife travels to husband’s location after the virtual wedding is done. This will eliminate the hassles of a typical African marriage ceremony where preparation for the wedding itself could make one a candidate for Hypertension.

Courtesy HudsonValleyCeremonies.com

A virtual wedding guest booth courtesy google image

Although the world is now digital than ever, people seeking and finding love through online platforms should be careful because with every advantage comes disadvantages.

Remember, love has long regained its sight.

Happy Valentine’s day!

Co-working is the new Office.

WHAT IF IN FIFTY YEARS TIME THE WORD ‘OFFICE’ BECOMES OUTDATED AND IS REPLACED BY TWO WORDS CO-WORKING?

For decades you were accorded real respect when you woke up in the morning with one destination in mind – the office. Other professionals who did not call their work space an office were not treated with awe as the man who walked, neatly pressed shirt and tie into a building he called an office.

Today the scenario has entirely changed. You hear professionals say I’m going to the studio, I’m off to my showroom, workshop, stand and now hub, also referred to as membership-based workspaces or co-working spaces.

A co-working space is a style of working environment that houses diverse group of freelancers, remote workers, and other independent professionals work together in a shared communal setting.

Coffee shops and hangout locations are fast becoming working spaces for startups. You see millennials sipping coffee and typing away on their laptops.

Silicon Valley has proven status quo wrong by setting up and establishing corporations that are world contenders today which began from co-working spaces like a garage.

 The garage where Silicon Valley started - Hewlett Packard Garage

                                 

According to Harvard Business Review people who belong to co-working spaces report levels of thriving that approach an average of 6 on a 7-point scale. This is at least a point higher than the average for employees who do their jobs in regular offices.

   The acclaimed first co-working space ever by Brad Neuberg

                                                 

Startups know better than to go looking for expensive office space in a commercial lit area of the city where they can be vulnerable to the whims and caprices of the big guns in their industries.

There are benefits that comes to those who take advantage of the co-working space.

Work is less competitive and more meaningful: Because a co-working space consists of people who work for a range of different projects for different companies, competition, and internal politics is minimal.

The help Culture: Working in such an environment fosters help and in such an environment makes it undeniable; the unique skill of one co-worker will be a solution to another’s problem.

Flexibility and more control of one’s work: This issue of lights out after 5pm internet downtime after work hours is not an excuse in a co-working space because these spaces and its assets are usually available 24/7. Millennials who are the bulk beneficiaries can choose to work in a less crowded place to aid focus or in a more collaborative space with shared resources where connection and interaction is encouraged.

Connection, collaboration and co-creation: This births a powerful working community. This is one strong advantage of the co-working space. In so many cases, it becomes not about a person going to the office; it makes that person feel like he’s part of a social movement.

Spending some hours at a co-working space can cause a spark of new ideas.

Should the traditional offices glean lessons from co-working spaces?

Of course yes?

The first thing traditional offices should learn to apply is flexibility. This is because the larger population of employees are mobile therefore, it is important to create such flexibility within the work environment which is beyond an open/large workstation and a coffee machine. Employees that fall within this category should be allowed to work in ways that make them feel in control of their projects. Offer networking events, training programs and social events that foster connection and collaboration within and outside the work environment because these soft skills play a seventy percent role in accomplishing projects.

Disruption is the game of the day. 

Some co-working centres in Africa.

co-creation hub, Nigeria

idea hub, Lagos

Common Labs, TINK Africa, Lagos

Iceaddis Ethiopia