Without texting, we wouldn’t know how to tell people in three letters that something is laughably funny (LOL). We wouldn’t have a quick way to convey dismay (SMH), and we wouldn’t live in a world where most emotions are reduced to a single, emotional image like 😉.
The technology, Short Message Service, or SMS, all started with a 16-character message, “Merry Christmas.”, sent 30 years ago today (December 3) by Neil Papworth, a programmer working on the mobile messaging technology. But it would be almost a decade before texting and emoticons (character combinations that replace pithy facial expressions, such as :-P) would spread through society.
I think it’s fair to say that we owe Blackberry to the widespread adoption of texting. Millennials and their idols (oh, hey, Paris Hilton (opens in new tab)) carried their BlackBerries and other phones with physical keyboards around like talismans.
While the iPhone played no role in the early adoption of texting culture, it (and Android handsets) helped transform it from a largely text-based texting culture to one filled with graphic emojis.
Now, three decades later, texting has forever changed the way people communicate. A recent study commemorating SMS’s first 30th anniversary Infobip (opens in new tab)discovered some fascinating details about how texting has changed our lives. (Note that the survey is only accessible in the US, but we’ve highlighted the key findings below.)
O’!
Phone calls are as good as dead. The survey of 1,000 US consumers found that only 24% still prefer voice calls to communication via SMS and other SMS proxies, such as WhatsApp and instant messaging (41%). Of course, younger people are even less likely to call. 53% of the original texting generation, millennials, would rather text, and 48% of GenZers think the same. If you’re wondering why the kids never call again, here’s your answer; however, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get a text on your birthday.
When I go for a ride, I pay attention to all the people engaging in one of the most dangerous habits in the world: texting and driving. You can’t blame SMS for this abhorrent practice. SMS is designed for phones with simple, small screens that are difficult to read while driving a vehicle. Big, high-resolution phones have made it too easy to look down, read a text, and then quickly type in a response as you pull into the car in front of you.
Infobip’s survey found that an alarming 52% of millennials indulge in texting and driving. Perhaps for the anniversary of SMS, someone will develop an OS-level auto-lock that will make texting in the car, at least by drivers, impossible. No, I don’t know how, but it’s worth considering.
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Texting almost everywhere is a legacy of texting. We text during:
- Meetings
- Funerals
- When using the bathroom
- When we have nothing else to do
- 45% of respondents admitted to texting drunk and regretting it.
Texting is also the language of love. We meet on dating apps and then measure the success of that first date by how fast our date texted us. The whole concept of “ghosting” comes from texting. Over a quarter of men reported being dumped via text (and just under 19% of women). It’s amazing how much romance, happiness and sadness are associated with this technology.
SMS technology has advanced to the point where it can generate anticipation. When you text someone something important, you usually stare at your screen, waiting for them to text back. Now, of course, you can see when they started typing and when they stopped – it’s a rollercoaster of emotions.
° ͜ʖ ͡°
It’s only natural that something that’s become so deeply ingrained in our culture also becomes a forum for one of the most basic human activities – 63% of millennials reported sext messaging, and perhaps to make it less awkward people adopted relatively benign emojis as stand-ins for body parts and sex acts.
It could be argued that texting has had a greater impact on our lives than smartphones and social media. Sure, we’re always on our phones and there’s a lot of drama on social media, but what do we do the most with our phones? If you want to communicate with friends, family or loved ones, you text them, don’t you?
Happy 30th text. I think we’re stuck with you.