Texting: what’s kinda old is new again

We call them cell phones, but they’re also little text machines. Now it’s official: Americans are doing more texting on them than talking. Youngsters 13-17 are leading the charge, with the 18-24s right behind them, says a Nielsen Mobile survey. Only at age 45 and beyond do calls still outnumber texts.

Then why so much texting? My guesses:

• Kids are texting when talking is impractical, like in class, like when parents are “over shoulder,” like when they’re in a group and want to have a back-channel conversation. OMG, cn u b leev she’s wearing that?
•  Texting is convenient. You don’t have to “answer” it like you do a ringing phone, so we’re texting a lot for the same reason we email a lot.
•  Texting is polite. Rather than interrupt someone’s meeting, sleep or vacation, you can quietly send a text.
•  Texting doesn’t tie up the phone, so you if you have fast fingers, you can carry on multilateral conversations not just bilateral ones.
• Texting makes driving exciting.

What does hyper texting mean for business? Well, phones with QWERTY keyboards are no longer status symbols; they’re standard tools for anyone who interacts with a team or customer base. If you’re not texting, it’s time to learn. And if you’re texting on a phone-style 0-9 keypad, you really should think about upgrading.  

For communications and branding, the ascendancy of text means words still have a central place in a world dominated by images and icons. Just remember to kp it brf.