Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Texting Booming: Up 80-Percent Over Past Year

by JP Mangalindan on November 10, 2009 at 09:25 AM

Like it or not, it's pretty routine these days for teens to text in class, for AARP members to playfully sext each other, and even for narcissistic fugitives to MMS better mugshots of themselves to the cops. Yep, texting is a wonderful, sometimes dangerous, thing -- leapfrogging at a pace that even analysts couldn't have predicted a year or two ago.

According to The New York Times, texting spiked 80-percent from June 2008 to June 2009. Apparently, the reason has less to do with the number of texting-enabled phones (only a 7.3-percent increase), and more to do with those popular "bucket plans" -- monthly services that give users hundreds, thousands, or unlimited texts per month. We guess not having to worry about being charged for every text message encourages cell phone users to communicate more freely -- way more freely.

CTIA, the communications industry group that released the findings, also believes teens play a big role. As these avid texters grow up, the texting community inevitably becomes more influential and financially independent. So whether you embrace the trend with open arms, or decry it as yet another nail in old-school socialization's coffin, don't expect texting to go anywhere anytime soon. Oh, and watch where you're walking. [From: The New York Times]

Tags: cellphone, cellular carriers, CellularCarriers, teens, Texting, top

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular