Textoculture – the culture of texting

Texting is very popular among teenagers and university students. Students on an average send around 2012 messages per month. Click here for the statistics. But how many of them actually impart important or authentic information? Rarely a few of them.
TXT2000 is popular particularly in New Zealand and is slowly affecting the rates of frequent phone calls. Phone calls are expensive so instead, people use texting to stay in touch with their friends and families. Researchers say that teenagers exchange one text every two minutes. Looking at this rate of texting, Vodafone came up with TXT4000 also for sometime but they cancelled it as most of the customers used it completely. There was also a high demand for TXT4000 and the customers wanted it back as TXT2000 fails to satisfy their texting needs. TXT2000 was devised for consumers who would not text so much and Vodafone would be at an advantage by earning so much from so many people. However, many users including myself finish our texting limits before the recurring date. This indeed is a high rate of texting and affects the psychological balance of the teenagers. 2000 texts mean sending around 60 texts per day which is also a lot. Frequent texting has lead to a decrease in the sleeping time and has reduced their concentration span. In the long run, it may lead to complete damage to their thumbs. Moreover people who text much do lose their ability to spell words correctly which itself proves the extent to which they are addicted to texting.
Moreover texting has become a culture now. Everyone texts and so these days, people feel uncomfortable in meeting friends and families physically where they don’t know what to talk about. However, they would still be texting their mates because texting gives them enough time to think and no one else hears their conversation. They can exchange any kind of information with each other and hence they feel safe unlike in reality where they have to think and talk. This however has reduced the basic courtesy among teenagers where they sit in formal social gatherings and keep sending text messages, thus ignoring the person sitting in front of them.
Texting is not bad. If something important is meant to be conveyed, it should be. However, it is a bad if it is interfering with the basic social norms and etiquettes. Teenagers and adults need to reduce the amount they spend on texting messages as this amount can be used in planning out a better future or career for themselves. Time is important and hence should be put into its most productive use.