Text Happy Teens Prefer Texting over Talking

This won't come as much of a revelation, but teens love to text. A lot. So much so, in fact, that texting is fast becoming the preferred method of communication, suggests a new study by Pew Internet. According to the study, American teens between the ages of 12 and 17 are more apt to text message their friends than they are to call, email, send an IM, talk on the phone, or chat through a social networking site.

Hang out at a local high school (actually, don't do that, it's kind of creepy) and you'll discover that some 75 percent of teens now carry a cell phone. That's up from 45 percent in 2004, and the vast majority of those cell phone toting teens are whipping text messages back and forth. Some other statistics to wrap your head around:

• Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month
• 15 percent of teens who are texters send more than 200 texts a day, or more than 6,000 texts a month
• Boys typically send and receive 30 texts a day; girls typically send and receive 80 messages per day

What's also interesting is that even though teens have turned into text messaging junkies, that all goes out the window when conversing with parents, where voice still reigns supreme. Looks like rapper-turned-actor Will Smith was right after all.


There's a ton more data covering everything from texting while driving, to who foots the bill. Comb over it here, and post your thoughts below.