Messaging services: what they can do
Messaging services let people share ideas. With one you can send text, pictures, voice messages and videos, to one person or to a whole group. A group can use it to work on a project or to ask classmates and teachers for feedback. How is it different from an ordinary text message? A messaging service uses the internet, so it is usually free. It costs the same wherever in the world the receiver is. It can use encryption, which scrambles the message so that only the receiver can read it. And it works on any kind of device. An ordinary text message uses the phone company’s network and may cost money. A safety rule for children: use a messaging service only in the way your school approves, with your teacher or a grown-up, and never share phone numbers or contact details. In class we practise with paper notes.
| Ordinary text message | Messaging service | |
|---|---|---|
| uses | phone company network | the internet |
| cost | may cost money | usually free |
| can send | mostly text | text, pictures, voice, video |
| secret from others? | not always | encryption can hide it |
| Receiver | How far | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| cousin next door | near | same |
| cousin across the sea | far | same |
Report plan. Plan a short report on the differences between messaging services and ordinary text messages. Draw its layout as boxes (a title, three headings, a table box) and write the three headings. Then make a pass-the-note game: write a short message to a partner on paper, fold it, and pass it. The partner writes a reply. This is how a pretend chat works without a device.