Text Messaging Explodes In America

(CNET)  American cell phone users are sending more text messages than they are making phone calls, according to a Nielsen Mobile survey released Monday.

For the second quarter of 2008, U.S. mobile subscribers sent and received on average 357 text messages per month, compared with making and receiving 204 phone calls a month, according to Nielsen. The new statistic is a clear indication that Americans have jumped onto the SMS text bandwagon.

In the first quarter of 2006, Americans sent and received 65 text messages per month. The number of messages sent and received today has increased 450 percent. But even though people are texting more, it doesn't mean that they've stopped talking on the phone. According to Nielsen, the number of phone calls that people make and receive each month has remained relatively flat over the past two years.

The wireless industry's trade association, CTIA, recently noted the explosion in texting in its own report. It recently reported that for the month of June, American cell phone subscribers sent about 75 billion SMS text messages, averaging about 2.5 billion messages per day. This represents an increase of 160 percent over the 28.8 billion messages reported in June 2007.

Short Message Service, or SMS, text messaging first became popular in Europe and Asia, because it was much cheaper to send short text messages than make an actual phone call. In countries such as the Philippines, the cost of sending one text is less than a penny. And in Europe where cell phone users are still penalized with high roaming charges between countries, texting is still a more economical form of communication.

But in the U.S. texting is proving to be a cash cow for carriers. Over the past two years, the cost of sending and receiving individual text messages without a special text message package has gone up 100 percent with individual text messages costing 20 cents per message. Carriers are now offering unlimited cell phone texting plans that cost an additional $20 a month, which makes sending texts more affordable for heavy texters.

The surge in text messaging is being driven by teens 13 to 17 years old, who on average send and receive about 1,742 text messages a month. Teens also talk on the phone, but at a much lower rate, only making and receiving about 231 calls per month. The report even suggests that tweens or kids under the age of 12 are also heavy text users, averaging about 428 messages per month.

By Marguerite Reardon

[mossz06]

Wow, some of you people are stuck in the past. This is the way the world is moving, either keep up or stick to playing bingo. Get with the times!

[scotte75]

There is nothing wrong with kids having cell phones. Especially in the day and age of family plans. It''s not expensive, and I would much rather a child be able to get a hold of someone or call for help then to not be able to do so.
Some of you need toget off your high horse. The old days are over, and they aren''t ever coming back no matter how much you complain about kids today playing video games, texting, talking on the phone, ehatever it may be. The simple fact is you would be doing those things too if you were a child growing up in the modern world.

[oneworldusa]

The reason TXT messaging is so popular with teenagers is because it''s like CHAT but can''t be screened. And, the evidence can be deleted right away. Also, being portable, teens don''t have to wait until they get home to ''be in touch.'' The only cell phone my kids will ever have until they become 18 and have their own contract and pay their own bills is one of those types that has mom and dad''s numbers programmed and then 911. That is all.

[j_flood]

I recently read a critic going on about the poor language used by young people - and how the English language was on the road to hell. The article was written in 1891 and seemed to mark the end of English as we knew then.

Our language will endure and evolve. Relax naysayers...

[twistedsister1959]

cbsfan731
You make some very good points on this subject. The kids in our area had to rough it after Gustav and entertain themselves the old fashioned way. They discoved the outside world and had a blast. Now they are back to their old routines. It was nice to see the children enjoying chasing lighning bugs, visiting a neighbor, whom they never met before the storm, camping outside in a pup tent because it was cooler outside than inside and just riding their bikes around the neighborhood to have something to do other than play a video game or text their friends.

[berniepeders]

Well, on a positive note - at least the kids can read and write well enough to SEND a text.

Posted by DoodDad
I disagree. "r u my bff" is a far cry from " are you my best friend forever". You know what I mean. They don''t use proper spelling, grammar, you name it. This generation is becoming a bunch of illiterate twits.
Peace

[hypnotoad72]

?Que?

[mike18881]

Alot of us VETs are so tired of hearing abou the want-a -be POW McCacain. We all know POW''s that went throught it. All of his whinning is getting tiresome.I''m not sure that he really went through what he say''s he went through. I''m a independent so don''t start with the Lib stuff.

[bobnjersey]

[There is a difference in the two men. Kerry is a cry-baby liberal that is against most kinds of freedoms that our troops have faught for..]
[Posted by hbevis at 05:23 PM : Sep 23, 2008]

what freedoms are those? you mean jurisprudence, innocent until proven guilty, access to an attorney, trial of your peers, elected officials upholding the constitution and the rule of law, the geneva convention, not outing cia operatives, the right to privacy ...

did you mean those rights ... or were you speaking of the right to lie to congress and the american people, the right to wage war under false pretense, the right to torture, the right to wiretap, the right to spy on american citizens, the right to our cia agents who are married to your political critics?

[rwsmith29456]

Some things, like cell phones, are a great invention because now you can reach people that are away from home, especially in emergencies. Other things, like texting, make me sorry it was invented in the first place.