Text messaging has transformed communication in less than a single generation. In a way texting has become like conjugal friendship: Although everyone does it, some do it faster and better than others.
The Guinness Book of World Records keeps track of the world text messaging record, currently held by Sonja Kristiansen of Norway. Sonja accurately keyed in Guinness’s official text message in 37.28 seconds.
To see how expeditiously you stack up, get out a timer and go. The message you need to send in less than 37.28 seconds is: “The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality, they seldom attack a human.”
In 2005, the record was held by 24-year-old Scot Craig Crosbie. Craig accurately typed and sent that message in 48 seconds, smashing the previous record by an eye-popping 19 seconds. Eight years later, Scott would be left in Sonja’s finger-churning wake.
Like professional prizefighting, multiple titleholders reign supreme in different classes. For example, Oregon’s Chris Young is the current record holder for the fastest 160-character text message when the message is a mystery until finally revealed at typing time. His record, which appeals to purists, is just over a minute — 62.3 seconds. Since the record was set six years ago, Chris seems ripe for dethronement.
A Kiwi, Elliot Nicholls of Dunedin, New Zealand, is the world record for blindfolded 160-character text messaging: 45 seconds flat.
If quantity, not speed, impresses you your hero might be Ohio native Andrew Acklin. Andrew set the world record for most text messages sent or received in a single month: 200,052, which is about 200,000 more than me.
While impressive, Andrew’s record has since been smashed twice. The current champion, credited with 566,607 messages, is Fred Lindgren. How Fred did this is beyond me: There are only 2.6784 million seconds in an entire 31-day month.
There are also team texting records, and an iPhone app to practice (iTextFast). The paragraph used by the Guinness Book of World Records is on the app; and the current best time listed on Game Center typing it was fast enough to unofficially break Sonja Kristiansen’s current world record (34.65 seconds vs. Sonja’s 37.28). But like former baller Allen Iverson used to say, “We’re talkin’ ’bout practice.” Practice and show time bring two separate pressures.
Today text messaging is the most widely used mobile data service. Three-fourths of all mobile phone users worldwide use it, which means more than 2.4 billion of 3.3+ billion phone subscribers.
In Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden and Norway), over 85 percent of the population texts. Europeans average about 80 percent, and North America is rapidly catching up — over two-thirds now do it.
The largest average usage of the service occurs in the Philippines, where every subscriber averages 27 sent texts each day.
United States use
In the United States, the Pew Research Center reported that currently more than 72 percent of U.S. adult cellphone users send and receive text messages. Americantexting is wildly popular among those aged 13–22, and is increasing among adults. Business use is growing too.
Since the age at which a child receives his or her first cell phone is also decreasing, text messaging continues to grow as a commonly accepted cross-generational means for all to communicate.
Social impact
It’s impossible to argue that text messaging has radically changed communication interactions. Part of this we can ascribe to a “new toy” or novelty effect, but other reasons never previously existed — they grew from technology.
For example, people can now converse without being expected to immediately reply and without needing to block time to talk. People can also communicate when a voice call is impractical, impossible, undesirable, or unacceptable.
Texting has also created something radically new in communication: a participatory culture. People can vote in online and TV polls; and receive real-time information on the fly. The tool can bring people together through a created sense of community.
Impact on other means of effective communication
Since children are being given cell phones as young as eight years old, more than one-third of second and third-graders have their own mobile phone.
Because of this, the “texting language” is integrated into how they think.
Teachers and professors are reporting increased difficulty controlling a growing classroom problem.
Texting has also changed how people talk and write essays. Impact studies continue; but the jury remains out on whether or not “texting language” is harming the traditional command of language use.
Texting while driving
The distraction factor: How bad is it?
The distraction of texting while driving was measured by Car and Driver magazine editor Eddie Alterman. Eddie went out and drove on a deserted air strip. When reacting at 70 miles per hour, being legally drunk added four more feet to his stopping distance .
Reading an email delayed his stoppage by 36 feet.
Sending a text? Nearly twice as dramatic as the email and 15 times worse than being legally drunk: 70 feet.
Logic assumes Eddie’s impaired reaction times translate to open roads. Truckers, whose livelihoods revolve around life passing by watching rolling odometers, increase their risk of accidents by a factor of 23x when texting as compared to when they don’t.
Social impact: cheating, bullying, and unrest
Cheating
Texting has created an easier way for students at all levels to cheat on exams, with the numbers getting caught steadily climbing. The depth of cheating grows along with technology, because phones now can include messages with graphs, video, audio, and hot links. Because the temptation is there — and access to limitless information has never never easier — an increasing number of students are taking the bait. And paying the price.
Bullying
Spreading by text rumors and gossip — sometimes with catastrophic effect — is an issue of growing concern. Teens, who are especially vulnerable to peer group acceptance and rejection, have no defense for a mass-release attack. Suicides by cyber-bullying — something previous generations never had to deal with — are becoming increasingly common.
Social unrest
Texting has been used many times to gather large, aggressive crowds. Some protest, some party. Many — however well intended — get way out of hand due to uncontrollable distribution.
Medical concerns: rising injuries
The excessive use of the thumb for pressing keys on mobile devices has led to a high rate of repetitive strain injury: an inflammation of thumb tendons (caused by constant text-messaging) now has a name: texting tenosynovitis.
Pedestrian injuries ankles, wrists, and noggins from unexpected falls while not paying attention, also steadily rise.
Also increasing are injuries resulting from texting due to traffic collisions, in which police investigations of mobile phone records — now a common investigative procedure — have found that many drivers (like my friend did a decade ago) have lost control of their cars while attempting to send or retrieve a text message.
And, as Internet addiction rises, causes are now being linked to text messaging, as mobile phones are now more likely to have e-mail and Web capabilities to complement the ability to text.
In closing, texting isn’t going away . . . so stay smart and remember the Technology’s Golden Rule:
“Use your tools. Never let your tools use you.”