NAED Technology Informer

There are two new sites trying to make a name for themselves in the online world. Luckily, those names are fairly easy to remember, as far as brands go: GroupMe and Fast Society both roll off the tongue. In addition to their similar skill with naming, they have similar premises as well. They offer iPhone users the chance to create a unique group and invite people by phone number in order to offer fast and efficient text messaging. GroupMe groups last indefinitely; Fast Society groups last for up to three days (this is necessary as a user can only be in on Fast Society group at a time).These companies will attract users who want to see instant results when communicating with their friends. Regular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter aim at a slower-paced audience base: those that don’t require immediate feedback on their communications. The technology has been adopted by everyone from hunters to ultimate Frisbee playersanyone who needs to communicate with large groups at once.Facebook is trying to reach the same niche audiences with its new Facebook Groups, which offer online meeting and messaging places for groups of up to 250 people. The switch was made in early October, but did not affect the millions of groups already in existence. Instead, people will have to specifically create the new groups, which are invitation-only and also offer live group chat, along with an assigned e-mail address which can only be reached by users in the group.Recent studies showed that the primary use of phones by teens was for text messaging. The group messaging offered by sites like GroupMe and Fast Society (along with the other companies that are growing up in their wake) seem to be bringing in groups that have been loath to use text messaging in the past. Will this trend continue to grow? Only time will tell.