Fans of social media website Twitter are used to updating their status and making tweet updates to the service via SMS. Until now they have been unable to submit photographs via MMS, however that has now changed with an update to Twitter’s service.
In a move that highlights the growing link between online, social media and mobile, Twitter has announced an update to their mobile service by making it possible to submit images via mobile text messages. Users updating their status via text message will now be able to attach an image as an attachment, too, which will then be shared with all Twitter followers.
Although the popularity of Smartphones means that many mobile users access Twitter via mobile internet to update their accounts, millions of users worldwide still use SMS to update their Twitter status. The photo SMS service is available in six countries worldwide. In the UK the service is only available with 02 and Orange.
Twitter data reveals that approximately four billion SMS messages are sent and received through Twitter each month. Official Ofcom data shows that the total number of SMS and MMS messages sent in the first quarter of 2011 was 36.9 billion, 22.7% higher than in the first quarter of 2010.
As well as growing in number, the nature of SMS messages has also begun to change in more recent years. Brands and businesses are increasingly using SMS software and messaging services to target potential customers with relevant advertising messages. In in the instance of MMS, field workers are able update colleagues with pictures on progress for the reporting of incidents and faults.
