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Is Texting Replacing Talking?

Survey finds rapid growth in cell phone text-messaging

April 9, 2008 
More and more of us are letting are fingers do the talking. A new survey finds that 36 percent of cell phone users are sending text messages daily.

Compiled through a survey of thousands of U.S.-based cell phone users, the Wirefly.com research confirmed the rapid growth in text messaging usage, with 36% of respondents classifying themselves as heavy users – sending anywhere from one a day to hundreds per month.

An additional 29% send fewer than 25 text messages a month, and the other 35% saying they never take advantage of text messaging capabilities.

Within the top-third heavy user category, the majority of respondents said that they send more than 100 text messages a month.

Personal use

The Wirefly.com survey shows that the growth of text messaging continues to be fueled by personal and non-professional uses.

Of the 65% of customers who do send text messages, a huge majority use them only to contact friends, spouses or significant others. Just 8% of text message users report sending a ‘text’ to a co-worker or for professional reasons.

According to the survey, Wirefly.com discovered that texting takes place only within a small social circle:

• 48% send messages to just 2-5 people;

• 21% expand that pool to 6-10; and,

• 20% spread their messages around to more than 10 recipients.

"It certainly appears as though our customers overwhelmingly use text messages to convey personal messages to a relatively intimate group of close friends," said Scott Ableman, Wirefly's Senior Vice President of Marketing.

"While we did find a small subset who send a tremendous number of texts to large groups of people, the typical user clearly restricts texting to a manageable group of close friends or family members."

In addition and perhaps most interesting, the Wirefly.com data seems to refute the wide-spread notion that text messaging is generally a medium for brief, choppy communication. A full 35% of those who do send text messages reported a typical message length of "several sentences." This option beat out "one word" (4%), "several words" (33%), and "one sentence" (28%).

Motives for text messaging range from simply "responding to a received message" (59%), to "as a substitute for a phone call" (49%) or "a quick hello" (48%). And nearly a fifth of all text messagers (17%) claimed to have flirted via text or for romantic purposes.

Finally, the primary reason for choosing to send a text message rather than placing a call highlights the flexibility and convenience of texting:

• 52% text instead of calling when "the situation makes talking on the phone difficult";

• 23% involved "lack of time" for a call;

• 15% simply "prefer text messaging to talking"; and,

• 10% attempting to avoid speaking with a specific person.

"The one result that did raise eyebrows involved 'breaking up with a boyfriend, girlfriend or romantic involvement via text message,'" said Ableman. "We're glad that 96% of our survey respondents report not having done so, but we were all intrigued, amused and concerned that 1 in every 25 respondents say they have."

The recently completed U.S.-based online survey was conducted from an opt-in pool of customers who had purchased new wireless phones and new service plans from Wirefly.com. The sample of 2,377 respondents was 55% female and 45% male. 36% of respondents were between the ages of 31-44, 34% were 45 and above, 17% were between the ages of 25-30, and 13% were 18-24.

The margin of error was 2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

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