What's In An Address?
What's In An Address?
When I meet a stranger that says he comes from Edina, Minnesota, I immediately think, that's the high rent district of Minneapolis. This man has done well.
In most, older cities of the U. S. the addresses with east in them, were and still may be, the high rent, more desirable districts. In the Phoenix, "Valley of the Sun", the various cities that were villages and now connect seamlessly, have distinct socio-economic reputations and within them, some addresses are perceived to be "better" than others. Perception is reality.
A speaker in a meeting I attended recently indicated that email addresses also have a perceived significance. The speaker said that addresses ending in ".com" are perceived as being used by professionals and stable businesses. This reminded me of another "expert" that, several years ago, said, ".com" at the end of your email address conveyed status, ".net" was a little lower class, ".org," ".gov," and similar endings showed you belonged or had a job. Being @aol.com and others suggested you were content to be with the masses.
When I grew up on the farm in Minnesota the number of rings you heard when you called someone carried social significance. Most of us talked on "party lines." As many as eight customers were served by the same set of wires and all of them could pick up the phone and hear everything you were saying. When you called someone, you could hear the ringing signal, if it was two rings or a combination of short and long rings, you knew the person you were calling was on a ‘party line"; only if it was one long ring would you wonder if it was a "party line" or a private line with its status and perceived economic class. Few could afford a "private line" because it required a separate twisted pair from the telephone switching location to the individual phone, and copper wire was expensive.
Perceptions are formed by little things, technology hasn't changed this.
Perception is the reality on which we make all decisions.
Labels: perception, technology
posted by Wes Zimmerman @ 5:00 PM
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