That is the sort of thing that 911 operators may be seeing flashed across their screens soon, or at least so I imagined when I read this recent news article on the implementation of texting as an accepted means of contact with the authorities in emergencies.

I don't doubt that this is actually an addition of great benefit to public safety; although 911 has long incorporated TTY capability for the hearing impaired, I imagine they were out of luck when it came to mobile communications. I can also imagine any number of scenarios where texting will be a safer means of contacting the authorities for the caller than the rather more obvious holding the phone to their ear and yelling for help.

Still, it does seem a little humorous, doesn't it? A friend joked that they were going to have to start hiring 14 year old girls as 911 operators in order to translate incoming text messages.

Of course, I'm not really writing about 911 or text messaging particularly. Instead, it struck me that this is just a rather obvious example of social technologies wedging themselves into more serious or formal parts of society. And business is having to deal with the same pressures as 911 centers... including, no doubt, text messaging. Is your CEO going to understand "qortRLE revenues R ^ 13 %, dud!" when it comes across on his iPhone?

As with the enhanced 911 services, it seems likely that there are great benefits to be had from implementing these things in the modern corporation. But where will the line be drawn between formality, custom, and utility? Even as I decrie the traditions of business where they impede efficiency, I find myself torn when it comes to certain social trends typified in these technologies. I feel, for example, that more or less proper English and good spelling are still important. It doesn't have to be on a paper memo, but it should be understandable from the board room down to the mail room. But the question is, am I just hanging on to some vestigial, perhaps generational, bias in believing that good English makes for good communication? Or is a little 1337 speak sprinkled in your e-mail faster to type and as easy to understand?

At the same time, I wonder if I am too harsh on social networking as a business utility. To be sure, the underlying motivation is communication, and that's a benefit. But I have been inclined to judge MySpace and such as rather inefficient tools for the purpose, at least for business purposes, and especially compared to many other alternatives. Are they, though? Or are they similar to forums, which I have been promoting for years as an alternative to kludgy and strained electronic mail systems?

I don't have any answers, but these are certainly questions we should be asking ourselves as these trends start crawling their way across from purely social realms into those of business.