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What is Text Messaging?

Brendan McGuigan
Brendan McGuigan

Text messaging is a term for short communications made through cell phones. It uses what is called the Short Message Service, and so is often called SMS for short. It is also sometimes referred to as txting, using the shorthand common in such messages as a way of dealing with short character limits and often bulky interfaces.

The origin of text messaging is somewhere back in the late-1980s and early-1990s. The first commercial texting took place in 1991, sent from a computer to a handset. It didn’t catch on for some time after these initial texts, and by the mid-1990s it was scarcely being used throughout Europe. By 2000, the service was being used with some intermittent frequency in Europe and Asia, although it was still rarely used in the United States, and fewer than 20 billion text messages were sent worldwide.

Texting is a popular form of communication.
Texting is a popular form of communication.

By 2001, text messaging had caught on and began to spread like wildfire, with the number of messages sent up to over 250 billion, a more than ten-fold increase. Young users especially seemed drawn to it as a quick and easy way to stay in constant contact. By 2003, more than half of all cell phone users were thought to be sending texts. It is now the most popular service used with cell phones, and it has become a fixture of modern life.

Texting is an easy and quick way to communicate between cell phones and other devices.
Texting is an easy and quick way to communicate between cell phones and other devices.

Text messaging is generally billed as an extra service by cell phone providers, either on a per-text basis, with an average of $0.10 US Dollars, or as part of a bundle package with a monthly fee, which brings the per-text cost down somewhat. The service represents billions of dollars worth of extra profit for cell phone companies, and as they use very little bandwidth relative to phone conversations, the profit margins are large.

Text messaging is a type of communication made through cell phones.
Text messaging is a type of communication made through cell phones.

Not only is texting used for person-to-person communication, but a number of groups have jumped onto the craze in recent years. Political campaigns, for example, have used it as a way to keep their supporters up to speed on events as they happen. Protesters and organizers have used text messaging as a way to stay connected during actions, mobilizing large groups of people in real time. Various businesses allow users to sign up for updates via text, or to receive bills this way. It can be used to stay up to speed on stock prices, sports scores, and any number of other small bits of data that change rapidly.

Emoticons are often used in texting to convey emotion.
Emoticons are often used in texting to convey emotion.

Since most phones have small keys and, in the case of numerical keypads, buttons may need to be pressed multiple times to find the correct letter, a whole slang of shorthand and acronyms has developed around text messaging. Replacing words with numbers, contracting words to single letters, and even substituting seemingly-arbitrary strings of numbers for entire sentences all make up the world of texting acronyms. Examples include phrases such as "c u l8r" to mean See you later, "r u OK?" to mean Are you okay, and "143" to mean I love you, where each number represents the number of letters in the word it substitutes.

Discussion Comments

redstaR

I'd recommend predictive texting as well, especially over relying on using acronyms and abbreviations. I think because kids are using cell phones and other forms of technology so early on in their lives it's impeding on their English skills, not to mention their intention span for reading anything longer than a couple sentences. It's not that much extra work to just spell things properly anyway.

softener

@Sequoia - Do you have predictive text enabled on your cell phone? This is when you're typing a text and halfway through the word it will guess the rest of it making the whole process a lot quicker. I used non-predictive texting for years and found making the switch hard to get used to at first but my friend recommended it and now I can text so much faster than I used to be able to. Just make sure you proofread before you hit send; your phone might have auto-completed a word you didn't mean and this can sometimes lead to embarrassing results.

Sequoia

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm just about the slowest person at text messaging of anyone I know. It literally takes me like ten minutes to send a text message that's only a few sentences long. Does anyone have any tips on how I can improve my speed? Usually I would just think it takes practice but I've been doing it for a while now and still find it painfully slow and frustrating.

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    • Texting is a popular form of communication.
      By: Antonioguillem
      Texting is a popular form of communication.
    • Texting is an easy and quick way to communicate between cell phones and other devices.
      By: arekmalang
      Texting is an easy and quick way to communicate between cell phones and other devices.
    • Text messaging is a type of communication made through cell phones.
      By: Brian Jackson
      Text messaging is a type of communication made through cell phones.
    • Emoticons are often used in texting to convey emotion.
      By: virinaflora
      Emoticons are often used in texting to convey emotion.
    • In some states, it's illegal to text while driving in order to reduce the number of distracted drivers on the road.
      By: Arto
      In some states, it's illegal to text while driving in order to reduce the number of distracted drivers on the road.