Ubercool

The Texting Lifestyle

June 12th, 2008

The texting revolution is reshaping the social dialog. Americans already send 30 billion text messages each month. In first quarter, Verizon Wireless delivered nearly 58 billion text messages in the U.S.

AT&T reported that a record 78 million text messages were sent during this season of “American Idol.” Globally, some 7 billion text messages are exchanged each day. As the conversation shifts to this burgeoning communication medium, trends are emerging:

• DWT– Remember that old joke about walking and chewing gum at the same time? The modern version is sending text messages, or checking e-mail for that matter, while driving. Unfortunately it’s no joking matter. DWT is the new DUI (“Driving While Texting” has become the new “driving under the influence”), reports The Wall Street Journal. A bill halfway through the New York State Legislature would make it illegal to type, read or send text messages while at the wheel. New York would join two other states, California and Minnesota, that have introduced similar legislation. These DTW efforts picked up steam in the U.S. following the release of a Nationwide Mutual Insurance survey that found one in five drivers texting while driving.

The DWT trend is not limited to the U.S. In the U.K., Rachel Begg, 19, entered prison on July 20 for four years after causing the death of Maureen Waites, a 64-year-old grandmother. Begg used her phone nine times during a 15-minute ride before ploughing into Waites’ car at 70mph.

• Text robbers – San Francisco once again became a trendsetter when two robbers who had stolen a mobile phone, texted someone in the stolen mobile phone’s address book and then robbed the text recipient’s iPhone.
• Medical texting – The NBC Today Show reported on June 5 that patients are now being reminded to take their medicine via SMS.


The Boston police department now accepts anonymous crime tips via SMS. Expect more services to be delivered via text message.

• luv ur nam – Some parents are inspired by cool SMS and e-mail spellings, and are naming children with unusual abbreviations and hyphenations.
• SMS capital – The Philippines is the SMS champion of the world. Fifty million Philippino subscribers sent 1 billion text messages each day in 2007. By comparison, China, with more than 10 times the texting fans, sent 1.6 billion text messages daily last year.

Nearly two-thirds of 700 students surveyed said their e-communication style sometimes bled into school assignments, according to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. “I think in the future, some e-mail conventions, like starting sentences without a capital letter, may well become accepted practice,” notes University of California, Berkeley Professor Richard Sterling. LOL!

Ubertrends: Time Compression, Unwired
Value Propellants: Multi-Functional, Speed, Connectedness

Entry Filed under: Mobile Phones