Study: A Third of American Adults Prefer Texting to Talking
Study: A Third of American Adults Prefer Texting to Talking
Posted 09/20/2011 at 10:37am
| by Paul Lilly
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If you end up going straight to voicemail when calling up a friend or co-worker, it doesn't necessarily mean their phone is dead or even that they're unavailable. They could be screening calls. According to a recent study, nearly a third of Adult Americans would rather text message back and forth than actually speak on their mobile device.
Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project discovered that around 8 out of 10 (83 percent) adult Americans own cell phones, and of those, 73 percent send and receive text messages. Out of that 73 percent, nearly a third (31 percent) say they'd rather text than talk.
Not surprisingly, "young adults are far and away the most active users of texting messaging." Their numbers hang way above other demographic groups, with 95 percent of 18-29 year olds saying they use their phones for texting. These users send or receive an average of 87.7 text messages on any given day.
The lower the age group the more text messages there are flying back and forth. Pew Research found that 18-24 year olds swap 109.5 text messages per day, or more than 3,200 per month.
You can read the full report here (PDF).
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LatiosXT
September 22, 2011 at 9:28am
It's a situational thing for me, and I include IM conversations as "texting".
If I have something important to say, I refuse to do it over texting. It lessens the importance of what I have to say and possibly puts a bad image on myself because I'm hiding behind the interwebs to say what I want.
On the other hand, I don't mind normal conversation or just small chat over texting. And sometimes I prefer it, because a phone conversation requires me to stop what I'm doing. Texting (which includes IMing) allows me to do my other things at the same time.
dj_unibob
September 20, 2011 at 6:09pm
I fall into the 18-29 group, but for me, it's situational.
I text when riding in a vehicle, when others are asleep in the house, or between towers, but prefer to talk at other times, because it is just easier.
I also only talk while driving (if it is safe for me to pull off to the side), as texting and driving is illegal in this state for good reasons.
dukeofurl
September 20, 2011 at 1:46pm
I prefer text when I have something small to say, and also it allows the recipient to not look at it RIGHT NOW and avoids me being disappointed when they don't answer their phone. It's sorta like email except limited to 160 characters.
digital demon
September 20, 2011 at 1:45pm
35-year-old that can't stand talking on the phone. Texting is so much quicker and more convenient. I'll talk to someone all they want after I'm with them. A meeting that was arranged by text, of course!
gunslnger
September 20, 2011 at 1:41pm
I tend to text just because I don't talk on the phone in general. I prefer using email for everything. Talking on the phone loses too much information, as body language is more than 50% of our communication information. Plus, it gives me time to compose the correct things to say rather than just the first thing off the top of my head. For reference, I'm 38 and a software engineer.
SirGraham
September 20, 2011 at 1:10pm
I've never sent a text message in my life and I'm 21; shallow way of communication in my opinion.
I Jedi
September 20, 2011 at 11:06am
I know I prefer texting over calling. I know I'm a young 22 year old man, so when I say that, it should come as no surprise to anyone; however, I always find it so awkward at the end of a phone conversation when I'm trying to hang up. Maybe that's just me, but it's always like, "Okay, goodbye... Bye... bye bye..."
TommM
September 20, 2011 at 11:37am
I'm the exact opposite. 56 year old dude and absolutely hate texting. It's slow, it's tedious and keeps one glued to a mobile device.
Much easier to call up and say, "Hey - want to meet for a beer after work? Cool - see you at the usual place. Bye." And then you get to actually SPEAK to people.
I think texting is very much a generational thing. Would love to see some (accurate) stats on texting levels per age group. Also broken down into male and female. Seems like it's impossible to see a woman these days between the age of 14 and 29 without them glued to their phone, walking into walls, falling down stairs, driving their cars into fountains. ;)
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