That’s what my 16-year-old granddaughter Myranda told me she had in December in a matter-of-fact description of the happening.
I had earlier read a report that among this younger demographic, text messaging had not only far surpassed e-mailing, but conversation. The report also stated that 500 text messages a day by this demographic is not unusual…that amounts to 15,000 a month. Myranda told me she has a friend who had 17,000.
Maybe this revolution in communication involving these staggering numbers of messages by individuals has been in the news, but I’ve missed it. The volume is apparently made possible by unlimited text messaging use for a modest sum per month, in Myranda’s case, about $30. And, the fact that many of these people can type fast, about 6 characters a second or 360 per minute, which translates to about 60 words per minute, some of them without looking, even pecking away with the phone in a pocket.
Apparently, according to the Wireless Association, there were more than 740 billion text messages sent/received during the first half of 2009. That’s an average of 4.1 BILLION text messages sent/received each day. And, that’s nearly double the number from the previous year, when only 385 billion text messages were reported for the first half of 2008.
Myranda tells me that among her acquaintances, the usual circle of friends that text each other on a regular basis ranges from 5 to 12 people. The texting usually starts when they get home from school, and can go on for six or more hours until they go to bed. They text while watching TV, listening to music or doing homework. However, they are limited to 160 characters per message, and so they can do homework, watch TV, et al, while waiting for a response. Probably good training for multi-tasking. As Myranda pointed out, one of the axioms of this form of communication is that “social life through texting doesn’t stop.”
The texting also goes on while a circle of friends are together in-person at get-togethers including overnights. I said to Myranda, “why don’t you just talk to each other?” She says they do, but they will text one another if it is a private matter.
On the other hand, I was at the home of a good friend who asked me to look at a group of friends of her three daughters who were sitting in the family room, all texting. Who are they texting I asked? Each other, she said. Okay, makes perfect sense, I said.
As I look back, I’m thinking that if I could have just texted my ex-wives across the dinner table instead of talking to them, I might have saved a lot of alimony.
