EPISODE 63 – 25 YEARS OF SMS AND THE RIGHT BRAIN/LEFT BRAIN MYTH

This week, our hosts Rai and Kyle discuss the upcoming 25th anniversary of the first SMS text message ever sent (December 3, 1992!) and how messaging has transformed our lives ever since. They also touch on a pervasive myth that was born out of pop culture and has been transformed into common knowledge ever since. Join the Digital Natives every Monday for the latest in design, marketing, and technology!

25 years of SMS [9:00]
The right brain/left brain myth [20:30]

25 Years of SMS

Can you believe it’s been almost 25 years since the first text message was sent? Mind. Blown. Kyle fills us in on some statistics and facts about messaging platforms and how this form of communication has grown and has taken on a life of its own in the last quarter century.

“Messenger by Facebook commissioned a study that found that 81% of adults and 91% of teens are messaging every single day.” -Kyle
“It turns out that people who are messaging more with more devices report greater satisfaction in their social sphere.” -Kyle
“Certain emojis have taken on their own meanings. You can pretty much say an entire idea or sentence with just one or two emojis.” -Rai
“The amount of people messaging is up 67% from two years ago.” -Kyle

The Right Brain/Left Brain Myth

We all want to learn more about the inner workings of our minds, so we were surprised when one of the most repeated psychology facts in the marketing world is not actually true. Rai explains how this right brain vs. left brain thinking came about and how we can’t evaluate our marketing colleagues based on stereotypes.

“For those of you that aren’t familiar, this myth says that people either have a strong creative sense or a logical, analytical, language sense.” -Rai
“A lot of this right brain/left brain thought came from researchers cherry-picking research.” -Rai
“The true parts to this are that the brain does have two lobes, obviously, and they do control different functions. This is not based on the particular person, it’s based on the activity.” -Rai
“People can be good at logical and creative thinking… or they can suck at both. It’s not black and white, there is a big mix of people.” -Rai
“Everyone has something to bring to the table and it can lead to missed opportunities if you’re buying into this myth.” -Rai

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