Expatriate Messaging

Part of the social graph each individual keeps is the ability to shift between channels as s/he pleases. The more we advance in mass technology (read gadgets), the more we spread our social web communication by using various platforms. The more we engage, cross-channel discussions become part of la vie quotidienne.

And in the midst of a cross-channel discussion, the term “expatriate messaging” was born on a Monday evening CET, February 4, 2013. Naturally, things like this cannot happen without technology,, which is where Auto-correct comes in. My friend Andrea Resmini was engaged in a witty conversation with Alberta Soranzo, and while trying to type “expatriate” his device decided to spell it as “ex-pats. Wait”.

Note to self: never discuss recipes with ex-pats. Wait.
— Andrea Resmini (@resmini) February 4, 2013

But there is more to it…

The truth is that both of my friends are Italian. They both live far away from home in lands that associate their own motherland with pasta, wine and Michelangelo. They rarely tweet to each other in their native language. They throw in an Italian word only when they talk Food (which happened to be the topic of the “ex-pat. Wait” conversation). And for us non-Italians, there is no point to dig into the subject of Italian food, because this is a vast river with many rapids and waterfalls, and every captain runs his boat differently.

Let’s go back to the channels…

What started as a simple exchange of tweets, turned into a Facebook chain of comments and likes that involved even a larger audience and increased engagement (all names of people involved were Italian, except mine…). Naturally, other countrymen showed culinary étonnement and partialities. Again all in English…

Expats begot “expatriate messaging” in a perfectly natural manner. The same way one chooses between Parmigiano and Pecorino for that Carbonara pasta. The conversation was decidedly cross-channel, as opposed to multi-channel, and this is what is interesting – its constant, seamless flow, the Pervasive Information Architecture.

Vessels don’t matter, content does. Or, as Andrea puts it in a more radical, but rather eloquent way, “messages have no medium”.