How Many Text Messages Did You Send Today?

A CNN article tells about a recent study taken by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. It shows that teenagers send an average of 100 text messages each day. If you count twelve hours in a day, they send about 8 messages an hour which is like one very seven minutes. Basically, they text ALL the time.

            "Texting is so functional and efficient," said Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist at Pew, when asked to explain the survey results. "It's convenient and fits into those small spaces in daily life. You're not talking about much, but you're telling people you're connected to them (CNN)."

Lenhart is correct in saying that texting is a way for us to communicate. It is definitely a convenient way to keep in touch and I would be a hypocrite if I said I didn’t use it. I am just as guilty as any other teen of sending many, many text messages in one day. We also tend to text more than call. Teens make or receive about 5 calls a day. Compare that to 100 text messages. I also think it’s safe to say that we text our friends and call our parents. It’s just what we do.

But how do we send so many texts in one day when half of the day we are in school? And the other half we are in a sport or doing our homework or spending time with family or friends…? The answer is that we text ALL the time. Whenever we have a spare second we whip out our phones and text someone. I know I do it. And I can’t be the only one because I have people to text every time I have a spare second.

I’ve got to say that Lenhart’s light-hearted view on the topic makes me a little worried. Texting should not be an all day occurrence. Sure, it’s a way to communicate but it should not be a way in which we live our lives. Our phones should not be a medium for experiencing life. They should be stuffing, not the turkey.

Put your phone away every once in awhile and go live a little. Be a real person, not a name on someone else’s cell phone display screen.



Article Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/04/20/teens.text.messaging/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Picture Source:

http://www.candrugstore.com/blog/2009/05/is-texting-causing-more-problems-than.html