There are many reasons why Twitter is a powerful networking tool, but it lacks three-dimensionality. Twittering enables you to write what you need to write in 140 characters or less, but it restricts you from adding inflection and tone.
Enter Pockets.
Suppose you want to leave a voicemail message for marketing professional Stacy Crosby but don’t want to trade physical phone numbers. You know her Twitter name is @StacyCrosby so you enter her name as the recipient, click the green button to send a voicemail, and Pockets calls your previously-entered phone number. You answer your phone, press 1 to accept, and leave her a message. Then, you hang up the phone and @pocketsapp sends her a tweet, references your Twitter name, and provides her a link–where she can log into Pockets and listen to the message. If she wants to return a call, she reciprocally signs in.
It’s genius, as Boston developers Ben Orenstein and Dan Croak demonstrate in this video:
For those times you don’t want to exchange in back-and-forth tweets or direct messages because syllabic inflection is not understood, call each other. Sure, you can engage in a real phone conversation or talk on Skype–but when timeliness is unimportant, this is an easy alternative.
Pockets only works for US-based phone numbers, currently.
My thanks to Stacy and Michael Barnard for helping me test this. Hat tip to Demopit and Lifehacker.
Related posts:
- How to March in the #FollowFriday Twitter Parade
- 7 Twitter Messages Encapsulating #G2S
- How to Get 21,347 Twitter Followers in 2 Weeks
Comments:
Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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this sounds familiar.. I think my former British coworkers showed me something similar they had across the pond a few years ago.
New from Andrea Hill: Bot or Not? Twitblock identifies potential twitter spam accounts
How so?
I don’t recall off-hand; I think it was actually offered by their cell phone provider. It was likely along the lines of simply being able to go directly to their VM and not having their phone ring at all.
New from Andrea Hill: Bot or Not? Twitblock identifies potential twitter spam accounts
Great info! Does anyone knows when is this available for use with numbers in other countries (UK, for example) ?
Thanks!
New from William V V @ Best Mobile Offer: Mobile Phones Survey
I must say I’m really impressed with the application I wonder how it is going to hit the market and what reaction is. It would be nice to see this roll out to other countries at some stage.
New from Paul @ Mobile Phone Reviews: Sony Ericsson W205 Walkman™