As I have mentioned before, I am a BlackBerry owner and self-confessed addict, a moth attracted to the flashing red light full of promise and suggesting popularity in the form of texts, bbms and facebook notifications. All in all, the BlackBerry is a general hub of information, which can sometimes get overwhelming (okay maybe only if you’re as popular as me). Here’s how to handle it:
BBM: For a young soul like me, BlackBerry messenger is THE reason for having a BlackBerry. It’s not just that it’s free, it’s also somehow much more informal and chatty than texting, AND you can have all sorts of exclusive groups and stuff to encourage social division. What’s not to love? So anyway, here are a couple of tips for making the most of the bbm experience. Firstly, one of the main joys of bbm is that people can tell when you’ve read it. So DO NOT read without replying. That is a massive rookie mistake. There are a few ways round it though, the best being to get chat history, so you can hover over a contact and view chat history, meaning you can read a message without it telling them you’ve read it. Also, when it comes to updating statuses, don’t do it too often. Less is more. Ditto display pictures.
Email: I actually have three separate email addresses hooked up to my phone, meaning a constant influx of Vue film times and WordPress.com posts (God it’s so annoying following people who blog every day isn’t it!). What I love about email is that I can open attachments on my phone, so I can put random PowerPoints as my phone background – yay me! Also, a word of warning – beware the reply all button. It often has disastrous consequences.
Apps: In my opinion, the best app you can get is Screen Muncher, which takes screen shots: great for publicising private conversations you’ve had with people as your display picture. I also feel obliged to mention Google Maps, as my friend constantly talks about how amazing it is (I think they must be paying her). I must admit it is good, and certainly better than the Maps app that comes with the phone. The WordPress app has of course become invaluable to me too (I’m using it right now!!) so get that too if you want to blog on the go. And the social network apps like Facebook and Twitter are good, but not essential goods I’d say.
Okay got to go: the red light’s a-flashing!
Keep shortcutting,
Zoe
shortcutting 