On 12/24/2012 05:10 PM, Maxim Kammerer wrote:

I think that the reason is simple and obvious: society shifts to preferring more impersonal communication. Same reason that teenagers prefer texting to talking on phone, and hanging out to dating.

From what I can tell, it is the exact opposite. The ease of use and persistent connected design of these apps (aka you have these always-on, long running group chat rooms), and the ability to quickly send voice messages and video, makes it MORE personal. The users feel a constant connection to a whole group of friends no matter where they are on the planet, and can, with a press of a button, reach out and hear their voice.

I am not saying this is a global phenom, applicable to all societies. I think within this occupied/exile dynamic, and also where standard telecomms are difficult, the impact of apps like WeChat and WhatsApp is perhaps greater than places where Skype, Facetime and Hangout work well. +n -- Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password at: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE