It surprises me how many times a day I check my phone for a new message. It is even more mind-boggling when I realize how much I texted in one day. The reality is, my phone is my life and texting is my number one form of communication. What is even more true, is that there are millions of others just like me. Welcome to the young ruling world of technology!
I found a great article on Reuters about teens and their obsession with there cell phones. Apparently a third of U.S. teens, text 100 times a day. The study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, found that texting has risen dramatically since 2008. Young people between the ages of 12 and 17 now own cellphones and of those that do, girls typically send or receive 80 text messages per day and boys, 30 per day.
The study’s authors also say that, unlike phone calls, text messaging can be quietly carried out under the “noses of parents, teachers or other authority figures and, unlike computers, it can be done almost anywhere.”
Text messaging is something that one controls and is able to freely express themselves without telling that person face to face. According to the article, texting has become so much a part of teenagers’ lives that 87 percent of those who text said that they sleep with, or next to, their phone.
The percentage of teens with cellphones who sent at least one text message a day increased from 38 percent in 2008 to 54 percent in September 2009, according to the study.
Meanwhile 38 percent of teens said they daily make at least one cell phone call, 30 percent said they talk on a landline phone and 24 percent said they used instant messaging.
Wow! just honestly makes you think how times can truly change. I could never see myself living in a world were digital connection ceased to exist. We are truly consumed within a different world. Can you imagine how things will be 10 years from now?
