Do you text message? Unless you’re MY DAD, the answer to this question is probably yes. It turns out that text messaging is one of the most common ways people communicate. If you are communicating with a teenager, it is entirely possible that the most effective way for them to express themselves to you is not through speaking. It certainly isn’t through e-mail because that’s old technology. Text messaging is often the preferred means of communication.

Communication is one of the most important ways we build trust between people. How many times does something one person said and another person misunderstood or misheard destroy a sense of trust?

How we communicate as 21st century people is rapidly changing through the use of technology (says the rabbi/blogger writing from an iPad). Through social media we can communicate volumes through a picture in Instagram. And through the magic that is twitter (are you following me @rabbisteinman) we’ve managed to communicate volumes in 140 characters or less.

Emoji are now a part of our language, too. This article artfully explains the challenges of these emoji both here and abroad.

I am not a huge emoji user. Are you? What do you like about them? Do they enhance or hinder your communication?