Overview 

A phenomenon called the BlackBerry Pause occurs when a speaker halts the flow of a conversation to check to see if a received message (Email, SMS, MMS or PIN) on their BlackBerry mobile phone is a valuable message. Depending on the relevancy of the message, the pause can occur from as short as one second to as long as 15 seconds. The pause causes the current conversation to hault.

The below chart depicts a standard eight second BBP.

Effect 

Messages that are deemed valuable by the speaker will be opened, skimmed and then mentally archived for review or reply at a later date.

Some examples of messages that will be replied to at a later time are:

1. From fellow Chad: Go Cubs!
2. From fellow Chad: Let’s get a case and play bags outside on Sheffield!
3. From one of the firm’s partners: Dividends are up 1.9%

Messages that are not important will be ignored or deleted.

Examples are as follows:

1. From Trixie: *KISSES* We should do that again sometime!
2. From Trixie: We should get married!

After the message has been reviewed, normal conversation will pick up right where it left off.

Types of BBP

Two forms of BBP have developed since the invention of the BlackBerry in 1999, IntraBBP and ExtraBBP.

1. IntraBBP occurs between two BlackBerry users. When the speaker pauses to check his or her message, the other party is oblivious to the phenomenon and may even engage in a BBP themselves. This chain reaction has been seen to occur in groups of two to as many as an entire executive table eating lunch or sitting in a meeting
2. ExtraBBP occurs between a BlackBerry user and a non-BlackBerry user such as a Palm Treo, Motorola Razr (and variations thereof), and even ancient Nokia and Sprint Nextel phones. The non-BlackBerry user does witness the phenomenon and may even get annoyed when the BlackBerry user checks the validity of their message.

In rare cases a Cascade BBP may occur when a large number of IntraBBP occurs between like parties that results in a flood of messages. Cascade events have been seen to happen when groups of five or more BlackBerry users fall into a BBP at the same time.

The below chart shows the threashold limit of a Cascade BBP.

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