Texting

I have noticed a trend in texting patterns: teenagers use texts to have full conversations much more than people in their twenties, who use texts mainly for ‘business’ e.g. arranging meeting places, checking details, asking single questions.

I think there are two possible reasons for this.

Reason 1: Teenagers simply use texts for conversation more. It’s part of the culture of teenagers. People in their twenties didn’t experience this when they were teenagers because mobile phones were very new then. Therefore in the future we can expect those who are currently teenagers to change their texting patterns.

Reason 2: The pattern of phone usage is changing, starting with teenagers who have more time on their hands. As phones become able to do more and more things, teenagers are relying on them more and more conversation is texted rather than spoken. In the future, we can expect this trend to infiltrate people in their twenties and above.

I hope the reason for the pattern is reason 1. Reason 2 would worry me, because the best way to conduct relationships is in person, and I think that even speaking on the phone is closer to being ‘in person’ than texting (or emailing, or facebooking etc.)