Text Messaging’s Effects on Our Society

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While text messaging has enabled us to have instant communication, it has impaired our society’s ability to communicate verbally, can potentially put users at risk, and allows users to exploit themselves and others in the touch of a button. Text messaging is “a form of wireless communication where users send or receive short, digital messages electronically” (Galloway-Shoemaker). Over the years, texting has developed into an exceedingly popular trend that the majority of Americans owning cellular phones use today. Text messaging has definitely made a tremendous impact on our society, both positively and negatively.

Text messaging began in the early 1990s, beginning with the first text message being sent from Neil Papworth to Richard Jarvis in 1992. This was certainly the start of an era for a new way of communication. Texting was initially intended for use on land-line phones to help the elderly who could not hear over the phone very well. That idea, however, was applied to cellular phones, and now most people use text messaging to converse with others rather than call them. Over the years, the number of people sending text messages has increased tremendously and is expected to continue to grow (Shannon). As of September 30, 2010, over seventy-two percent of people with cell phones send and receive text messages on a daily basis. With this percentage in mind, over four billion texts are sent and received each day. The number of minutes used to verbally communicate on a cell phone has decreased from 3.13 minutes to 2.03 minutes over the past two years, with many homes no longer having traditional land-lines (Text Message Marketing Service).

The majority of text messages today are sent by teenagers. Eighty-seven percen...

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...Sept. 2010. Web. 27 Apr. 2011.

Hesse, Monica. "Text is Cheap." The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 2009. Web. 27 Apr. 2011.

Knowles, Amanda. "Pros and Cons of Texting." Get The Word. The Community Word, 14 Mar. 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2011.

Martin, Shelby, and Mackenzie Davis. "Experts Say Texting Has Negative and Positive Effects." Artesian Herald. Martinsville High School, 19 Mar. 2009. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Shannon, Victoria. "15 Years of Text Messages, a 'Cultural Phenomenon'" The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 5 Dec. 2007. Web. 27 Apr. 2011.

Text Message Marketing Service for Business - Group Text Messaging - Group SMS. "Text Message Statistics in 2010." RunText. RunText, 30 Sept. 2010. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Wheeler, A. Barbara. "Texting Affects Communication Skills." Kent County Public Schools. Kent County Public Schools, 2010. Web. 18 Apr. 2011.

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