We all know that humans are social animals, and require some form of communication with other beings in order to live the way we’re meant to. This was done mainly in the form of talking in person, then came the concept of writing letters, then the telegram, and the telephone. Then in the 80’s, a huge breakthrough occurred, which was the invention of the internet. The few privileged ones started communicating through means of electronic mail, or simply e-mail and this went on till the mid 90’s, along with the concept of instant messaging or what we call as “chatting”. 

The 21st century turned this into a whole new ball game. Services like My Space, Hi5, Orkut, and last but not least Facebook started coming up. These services are collectively referred to as social networking sites. Social networking sites provided better means of keeping in touch with people by allowing photos sharing, video sharing, instant messaging, mailing, all smartly put together in a single site, which any average computer user could use with ease. They drastically changed the way people keep in touch with each other. The saying “It’s a small world after all” really reflects here. 

The real break through occurred in the mid 2000s. An extremely simple, but clever service known as Twitter was started in the year 2006 by a man known as Jack Dorsey. It calls itself a ‘micro-blogging site’. Now, some of you will think Twitter is vague and surely have questions like, “What, is this guy stupid? What’s so great about Twitter? It’s just like updating my Facebook status”. I can’t even begin explaining how great Twitter is. Take for example, Skype. I can talk to a specified number of people on Skype with ease and it’s all for free. Now, what if I wanted to talk about a specific thing, so that not only my friends but anyone in the world can see it? You’ll say, turn to blogging. Now what if I wanted something in between. Something more brief, but still allows me to communicate with the people I want, as well as everyone else? This is where Twitter steps in. And the best part is, you’ve a 140 word limit per ‘tweet’ (the message) so you’ll have to keep it brief and precise. 

Now for all of this to really work, it has to be on the go. Mobile internet services have become a standard so people have started ‘Tweeting’ on the go about anything interesting that comes up. After the release of the iPhone in 2007, almost all mobile phones have social networking services available on them, so keeping in touch has become easier than ever. 
Another terrific service that I cannot end this article without is called ‘foursquare’ launched in 2009. This is a mobile service which basically updates a person’s location using GPS and allows people who you have accepted as friends on the service to see where you are. Once a whole network of friends is built up, you can ACTUALLY see where your friends are. For example, you enter Mall X. Mall X would have been registered already on foursquare. You can go to the foursquare application and check who else is in the mall, and if anyone you know is there, and tips from the people who have visited Mall X. Incredible. 

Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare. Three incredible services that have shook the very foundation of social networking. Twitter is one thing that cannot be missed. There’s a LOT more to it, so I urge you to read check out the following page, signup on https://twitter.com and preferably use a client to tweet instead of the actual website. 

As I come to the end of this article, all I have to say is that with these new and upcoming services, I have actually gotten a glimpse of the future of communication.