Sunday, August 7, 2011

Apparently I'm 14 years old.

I haven't gone over my 450 allowed minutes in a pretty long time, but lately I haven't even been close.

Why? Oh, just because I've gotten into the habit of sending between 1,000 and 1,500 text messages a month.

OMG. WTF?

Am I going to start sneaking out the back door of my own apartment next?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I maintain that texting is a completely acceptable and adult method of communication, when used appropriately. If you neglect basic grammar and spelling, that's when you have to start worrying.

Allison said...

Well Anonymous, texting is an acceptable form of communication, but I don't know if I consider it really "adult." I consider it more "adult" to pick up the phone and use wwworrrdsss. And it certainly is convenient, as evidenced by the average number of text messages sent and received by folks my age each month in 2010 - still a hefty 592. But not 1,500...that's literally reserved for 14 year olds. Literally. They send more than 2,000. :) How many do you send??

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/u-s-teen-mobile-report-calling-yesterday-texting-today-using-apps-tomorrow/

Anonymous said...

I only have 200 on my plan and I've never come close to using them all. Think of it as being ahead of the times. You know how many texts I sent when I was 14? Zero, and I'd wager it's the same number you sent. Today's 14 year olds are growing up in the digital age, and texting is how they communicate. That will no doubt carry on into their adult years and, while their text activity may fall off some, it should push that average of folks your age closer to that 1500 a month number. Of course by that time you'll be older, and you will probably have to pull out your reading glasses every time you want to send a text, which gets annoying, so voice dialing will probably be your thing. And by the way, you can't send a text without wwworrrdsss. In fact, it takes a literate person to send and receive texts. Granted, my four year old can read simple wwworrrdsss (she's only four, get off her back), but think of it as encouraging literacy, which is very adult. Unless of course your texts are full of wwworrrdsss like ur, omg, u, lol, or uncapitalized wwworrrdsss and missed punctuation, my personal pet peeve. Granted, I am not a grammar genius, but I try and keep my written wwworrrdsss as correct as possible, as it seems you do, too. Your blog (which is awesome, by the way) is always well written and your wwworrrdsss carefully chosen. If you can't tell, I have been dragging this reply out a touch in an attempt to incorporate the word wwworrrdsss as much as possible.

Allison said...

You make very good points. You're right, I probably am old fashioned. I didn't have my first cell phone until my junior year of college. I remember spending hours twirling the cord (remember those?) of the home phone around my finger while I talked to my girlfriends in high school. Not my boyfriends, mind you, since my mother didn't like boys calling the house. I guess texting on my own cell phone would have come in handy there, huh? The point I'm really trying to make is that there clearly is a generational gap in communication techniques. I personally find it odd when adults send a butt load of text messages. You also wouldn't catch me at a Justin Bieber concert covered in glitter. But you are right - those 14 year olds will be the adults in 20 years, so it won't be as unusual. And by then, telepathy will probably be all the rage with the kids. However, to your point about texting promoting literacy...when most phones now have an autocorrect feature that - unlike a spell checker - actually finishes your words for you, I can't agree that texting is really promoting literacy. No more than eating french fries is promoting vegetable eating. By the way, you have seen this commercial, right? :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nIUcRJX9-o