The first text message was sent in 1992. Today over 10 billion text messages are sent daily, more than the world population.
It is the most widely used mobile data service with around 2.5 billion users worldwide.
Texting has been extended to include images, videos, and sounds.
People send text messages like crazy these days. Many choose their cell plans based on having unlimited texting.
(Twitter is like public text messaging where anyone can see and comment on what you are sending.)
An interesting observation is how people have become expectant of receiving immediate replies after sending a text. They will pickup the phone within minutes, call you, and ask if you got their text.
How many texts do you send on average each month?
I think it’s hilarious that people will call and ask if you received a text. If it’s really important information that needs to be addressed, I would think that you should just give them a call.
I agree. If it’s something important or personal, just pick up the phone or better yet, meet the person for coffee or lunch! I text on average about over 1000+ texts a month but it just doesn’t converse as well as a phone call or a meeting.
I disagree. Why risk someone not picking up the call? At least you know that they’ll receive the text. Let’s say they don’t answer. How do you know that they’ll check their voicemail in a timely manner? You don’t.
Yes very very funny, like who does that. But texting has become the norm as of now and this generation are continuously texting, whether it be instant messenging or actual texting.
LOL! my side hurts so bad from too much laughing and i still cant stop smiling. i happen to know someone who actually did this. The worse thing is that he kept on shouting and asking if i have received his text and why i wasn’t texting back, he was ranting for about a minute or two and then hung up, didnt even bothered telling me what that text was about. I usually text an average of 350 a month, not much of a texter. text messaging is really confusing sometimes. A simple “where are you?”makes you wonder if the sender is angry, trying to be cute or just plain asking.
Was it a boyfriend? Usually a girl is stereotyped to be the obsessive typed, I guess not in reality though.
On the other hand, if having an average of 350 a month is not much a “texter,” I’m not such where the line is actually drawn. And the actual tone of a message is usually not that hard to figure out, you simply factor in the personality of the sender; when you know someone even relatively well, you know how they react to certain stimuli.
I must send hundreds of text messages every month! Wow! Haha, I never really thought about it, but now I sure feel like a guilty party!
My sister will call me and ask if I got a text. Seriously hilarious because that’s pretty much how every conversation with her starts!
And 1992? I didn’t know texting was that old!
Uhmm. I can’t really count, I may be send about 2000 text messages a month. Ya i know i got a problem, I am always chatting wanting to know whats happening around me, not just the world but with my friends and family. Its shocking how much has changed since Alexandra Graham Bell. Its a good thing i wasn’t born then.
Problem aside (given acknowledgement), it’s relatively justifiable through your want of staying connected with family and friends and the need to know what’s happening around you. Unless connecting with friends means gossiping and networking means cheating…
And technically, it hasn’t changed that much… Texting is like the old telegram but much more convenient and much less costly.
What goes around, comes around… Time moves through cycles.
I always try to imagine now how things use to be before texting and cell phones. Its like they were first created to save time and connect us with people and relay messages faster but now we use our phones and texting to kill time and act like somebody is missing if they don’t respond to a text in minutes. My girlfriend currently lives 5 hours away from me. We text all the time! I actually wrote her a message and mailed it one day just to get a feel of how it could possibly be communicating without texting.
That sounds sweet, really. I wanted to do that for my significant other who’s in another country but I am too impatient to see what his reaction would be. I do remember that each of us has sent something like did you receive my message in the course of our relationship although we’ve been understanding that technology’s not 100% dependent yet.
I love texting precisely because it doesn’t require an immediate response. I have phone anxiety so texting and Facebook are the two primary ways I communicate with people.
As useful as texting is, and much as I use it, I think some people (I hate to generalise, but it’s often young teens) are too obsessed with it. Even when I was that age I didn’t rack up a huge phone bill, and nowadays I must only send around 100 texts a month. I had a friend once who went into a real mood once because she had used up her supposedly “unlimited” texts texting nobody but her boyfriend. She ended up losing quite a few friendships at school because she didn’t really socialise, she just sat there with her phone in her hand!
I’m the kind of person who never answers his texts immediately to my text message.
It is interesting to talk about it, then this language texting me catch myself sometimes. We arrive at this understanding with a vocabulary so restrained.
I don’t send as many text messages as I used to… I think it’s because a lot of the people I used to text are active on Facebook or Twitter so we just communicate there. I did, however, select my phone plan based on having unlimited text messages. Though I don’t send as many as I used to, I definitely send a few hundred each month.
I literally would text hundreds of messages everyday when I was still studying mostly because I have unlimited texting on. It didn’t help that I would have hours of nothing to do between some subjects so it was something to do aside from studying. These days, I’m using Skype to chat with friends more which is less expensive, given that I just need free WiFi and I’m set.
That is probably an addiction. If you text more than fifty times per day then you might have a problem. No offense. The first step to solving an addiction is to admit that you have one. I don’t like how you posted that it was something to do besides studying. It means that texting turned into a hobby. That’s not good!
Hundreds I’m sure. Seriously though, what is the point of calling if you just text-ed me. The messages I send with the iPod are pretty cool, if the user allows, you can see if they read your message. I wish that current smartphones would allow users to see a in progress icon for when their text is being read by someone else. Then again I imagine most would probably turn it off due to their not wanting others to know they are being ignored.
Perhaps the best thing someone can do is to “train” the caller not to call after texting. For example, they text you, you do not respond right away. Then when they call you simply don’t answer. No matter what, don’t answer until you send them a text message. Then when they get the message, they will say to themselves: “If i had just waited I would probably have gotten this message.” Or just ignore them, eventually they will get the point.
In my case, I’m annoyed about delayed and unreceived messages. They happen all the time, and, sometimes, you miss out on very important text messages that you’d end up fighting with the one you’re conversing with because of these. Yup, I expect a reply within a minute after I sent the message, and it annoys me, too, if the second party would text you back ten minutes after!
Good point. There are numerous times when my texts or someone else’s would be so delayed, texting loses its significance as a way to immediately communicate with someone. Texting can be limited by the signal you’re getting, as I’ve found out when I took a vacation in the mountains. Usually messengers that use WiFi help but I’m not sure I can get a decent internet connection in the province.
Wow the first text message was sent almost 20 years ago that’s a lot to think about, look how far technology has improved since then. They still need to fix some issues with texting like delayed messages or messages not being sent
It is kind of surprising — as well as amusing — that people will call after texting since sometimes people text because they do not like to make phone calls. But it seems that for some, the desire for an immediate response overrides this.
I must say I burned out pretty quickly with texting. I find it very time consuming. I only text when it is expedient. That’s how I was with instant messaging on the computer. When it first was available I thought the real-time communication was so exciting and futuristic. But it started to take up too much time!
These days, if I want written communication I prefer email which does not have the constraints of length.
And as for real-time communication, I still thinks nothing beats being able to talk on the phone versus deciphering text messages and emoticons and risking a miscommunication.
I absolutely hate when people text me like ten times than they call me asking if I got their texts. I think its a obnoxious thing to do,texting destroys peoples social life’s and I think cell phones today are way over used.
Yes, I agree on both points. Sure, texting has its purpose. It’s great for conveying a quick message, but then, just as with email and with voicemail, it’s nice to be able to return a text at your leisure. But people don’t want to operate that way; they want the answer instantly! It’s alternately amusing and annoying.
And these days, even when socializing, people can’t put their phones aside. Their heads are down and, yes, they are texting!
It’s amazing how the world keeps changing. Several years back texting was rarely used and most people preferred the personal touch of actually talking the person directly.
But ever since the kids have got their hands on mobile phones texting has taken over like storm and it seems like the only method of communication they prefer now a days.
I have to say I am a fan of texting too. I prefer it over talking. Not that I try to avoid talking to people over the phone, but when it is a matter of delivering an exact message, I prefer to text it. Especilly if it’s a date or place of a meeting, like this I am sure the person will have the info on his/her phone to check it anytime.
Besides, my voice sounds kinda silly over the phone XD
I agree that a lot of people are very impatient when it comes to text responses. I intentionally wait to reply to texts from my sister because I know she is one of those people. I don’t want her to expect me to reply right away every time.
I can get impatient, but I also realize that people are busy. So, if I do get impatient, I just cool myself off and realize that people have lives outside of texting.
I also wait to respond to some people via text message. Just because I receive a text at 5:05 doesn’t mean that I have to respond to it by 5:10. The point of a text is to avoid playing phone tag. It is also less time consuming to look at your inbox instead of dialing up your voicemail, entering a password and waiting to listen to voice messages. Texts are better in every facet in my opinion. P.S. I love to make people who demand an immediate response to texts wait an extra while longer to get my response. Just because I know that it will really grind their gears. Nobody should expect an immediate response from a text.
I am the same way. I don’t feel compelled to stop what I’m doing to return a text. I treat it like email; look at it and respond when convenient. I agree it’s much more time efficient that voicemail. I have been known to forget to check voicemail for a day or two, and so of course I get a text…”didn’t you get my voicemail?!”
I do feel it’s important to maintain some control over all this instant communicating, otherwise it becomes a huge distraction and can slow down our productivity. It’s the polar opposite of snail mail which is inefficient because it’s so slow. I think too much texting winds up being paralyzing because it’s so fast.
Well how come we are in the minority? Most people that I know want me to call them and view texting as amateurish and something that can be shrugged off easily. It’s like they think I don’t care enough about them to call.
And yes, think of all the teenagers out there who spend their days and nights texting. Imagine what they would accomplish if they put the phones down.
Aside from people expecting quick replies, I’ve heard other people fight over it. It’s silly how our expectations from technology can be too much when there are lots of places still that have problems with communications technology.
I think it has been a few weeks since I actually made a phone call or received one. I think texts are more efficient. I don’t like to be interrupted during activities and I’m sure that others feel the same way. That’s why I text instead of call. A text allows the other person to respond when they have a free moment. A call demands immediate attention. I think most people in Generations Y and X feel similarly. I’ve noticed that the baby boomers still prefer to make actual phone calls, though.
I used to text a lot until I’ve found out that I paid for the individual text, which the mobile provider charged me about $210 just for texting. I don’t send texts unless I am absolutely sure that the person I try to contact doesn’t answer his or her phone. Texting disturbs me because I’m the kind of person who checks on the phone when there are new text messages, e-mails, and missed phone calls. I send out about 2 to 3 texts each month.
I remember when text messages were first a thing–my parents wouldn’t let me send them because they were so dang expensive. Now I hardly make calls on my phone to friends. It’s kind of like email, it’s hard to remember what it was like without it now! I remember when getting an email or text was still semi exciting.
Funny enough, Apple has been accused of blocking text messages of people who ditched their iPhones with iMessage. People say it isn’t intentional, but some who experience this glitch have tried every single fix there is, even deleting their Apple accounts, and still won’t recieve texts. It’s sad that Apple still hasn’t gotten around to fixing this glitch, especially because they are able to release software updates at least once a month.
I don’t know. There must be so many things wrong about the way we communicate. Otherwise, why would we need publicist, public relations, media relations, human resources, communications manager, internal communications manager, marketing communications, mass communications expert, and all those jobs that people are applying nowadays. I think we also need to educate ourselves in this area.