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| if you dont know what texting if theres a problem. thank you. ( look at the ninja!!! QK) | |||
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| ].]] | |||
| '''Text messaging''', also known as "'''texting'''", refers to the exchange of brief written messages between mobile phones over ]s. While the term most often refers to messages sent using the ] (SMS), it has been extended to include messages containing image, video, and sound content (known as ] messages). Individual messages are referred to as "text messages" or "texts". | |||
| The most common application of the service is person-to-person messaging{{citation needed|date=February 2010}}, but text messages are also used to interact with automated systems, such as ordering products and services for mobile phones, or participating in contests. Advertisers and service providers use texts to notify mobile phone users about promotions, payment due dates, and other notifications that used to be sent by post or left as ]. | |||
| == History == | |||
| SMS was first used in December 1992, when Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old test engineer for ] | |||
| <ref>{{cite web| title= UK hails 10th birthday of SMS | url= http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/30216466.cms | publisher=] | date= 4 December 2002 | accessdate=2010-02-02}}</ref> (now | |||
| ]),<ref>{{cite web| title= Airwide Solutions Says Happy 15th Birthday to SMS | url= http://www.airwidesolutions.com/press2007/dec0507.html | publisher=] | work=] | date= December 5, 2007 | accessdate=2010-02-02}}</ref> used a ] to send the text message "]" via the ] network to the phone of Richard Jarvis.<ref>{{cite web| title= 15 years of text messages, a 'cultural phenomenon' | url= http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/technology/05iht-sms.4.8603150.html?pagewanted=all | publisher=] | date= December 5, 2007 | accessdate=2010-02-02}}</ref> | |||
| Initial growth of text messaging was slow, with customers in 1995 sending on average only 0.4 messages per GSM customer per month.<ref name="gsmworld"></ref> One factor in the slow take-up of SMS was that operators were slow to set up charging systems, especially for prepaid subscribers, and eliminate billing fraud which was possible by changing ] settings in the rectum individual handsets to use the SMSCs of other operators. Over time, this issue was eliminated by switch-billing instead of billing at the SMSC and by new features within SMSCs to allow blocking of foreign mobile users sending messages through it. The end of 2000, the average number of messages per user reached 35.{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} | |||
| SMS was originally designed, but is now available on a wide range of networks, including ] networks. However, not all text messaging systems use SMS, and some notable alternate implementations of the concept include ]'s "]" and ]'s "]", both in ]. E-mail messaging from phones, as popularized by NTT Docomo's ] and the RIM ], also typically use standard mail protocols such as ] over ]. | |||
| Today text messaging is the most widely used mobile data service, with 74% of all mobile phone users worldwide or 2.4 billion out of 3.3 billion phone subscribers at end of 2007 being active users of the Short Message Service. In countries like Finland, Sweden and Norway over 85% of the population use SMS. The European average is about 80% and North America is rapidly catching up with over 60% active users of SMS by end of 2008. The largest average usage of the service by mobile phone subscribers is in the Philippines with an average of 27 texts sent per day by subscriber. In Singapore the average is 12 and in South Korea 10.{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}} | |||
| Text messaging was reported to have addictive tendencies by the Global Messaging Survey by Nokia in 2012 and was confirmed to be addictive by the study at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in 2004. Since then the study at the University of Queensland in Australia has found that text messaging is the most addictive digital service on mobile or internet. The text reception habit introduces a need to remain connected, called "Reachability".<ref name="m-Profits">m-Profits, ISAN 978-0-470-84775-6, Tomi T Ahonen, John Wiley and Sons Ltd (27 Aug 2002)</ref> | |||
| ==Uses== | |||
| ]]] | |||
| Text messaging is most often used between private mobile phone users, as a substitute for voice calls in situations where voice communication is impossible or undesirable. In some regions, text messaging is significantly cheaper than placing a phone call to another mobile phone; elsewhere, text messaging is popular despite the negligible cost of voice calls. | |||
| Short message services are developing very rapidly throughout the world. In 2000, just 17 billion SMS messages were sent; in 2001, the number was up to 250 billion, and 500 billion SMS messages in 2004, which represents close to 100 text messages for every person in the world.{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} At an average cost of ] 0.10 per message,{{Citation needed|Are unlimited plans included in this calculation?|date=November 2008}} this generates revenues in excess of $50 billion for mobile telephone operators. | |||
| SMS is particularly popular in ], ] (excluding ]; see below), ] and ]. Popularity has grown to a sufficient extent that the term ''texting'' (used as a ] meaning the act of mobile phone users sending short messages back and forth) has entered the common lexicon. Young Asians consider SMS as the most popular mobile phone application.<ref> from synovate.com</ref> | |||
| In ], SMS is very popular, and has brought service providers significant profit (18 billion short messages were sent in 2001).<ref name="2001 message rate"> from tymcc.com.cn</ref> It is a very influential and powerful tool in the ], where the average user sends 10-12 text messages a day. The ] alone sends on the average 400 million text messages a day or approximately 142 billion text messages sent a year,<ref name="Philippine Daily Inquirer">, a 03/04/2008 article from the '']''</ref> more than the annual average SMS volume of the countries in Europe, and even China and India. SMS is hugely popular in ], where youngsters often exchange lots of text messages, and companies provide alerts, infotainment, news, cricket scores update, railway/airline booking, mobile billing, and banking services on SMS. | |||
| In 2001, text messaging played an important role in deposing former Philippine president ]. Similarly, in 2008, text messaging played a primary role in the implication of former Detroit Mayor ] in an SMS sex scandal.<ref></ref> | |||
| Short messages are particularly popular amongst young urbanites. In many markets, the service is comparatively cheap. For example, in ] a message typically costs between ] 0.20 and AUD 0.25 to send (some pre-paid services charge AUD 0.01 between their own phones), compared with a voice call, which costs somewhere between ] 0.40 and AUD 2.00 per minute (commonly charged in half-minute blocks). Despite the low cost to the consumer, the service is enormously profitable to the service providers. At a typical length of only 190 bytes (incl. protocol overhead), more than 350 of these messages per minute can be transmitted at the same data rate as a usual voice call (9 kbit/s). | |||
| Mobile Service Providers in New Zealand, such as ] and ], provide up to 2000 SMS messages for NZ$10 per month. Users on these plans send on average 1500 SMS messages every month. | |||
| Text messaging has become so popular that advertising agencies and advertisers are now jumping into the text message business. Services that provide bulk text message sending are also becoming a popular way for clubs, associations, and advertisers to quickly reach a group of opt-in subscribers. This advertising has proven to be extremely effective, but some insiders {{Weasel-inline|date=March 2009}} worry that advertisers may abuse the power of mobile marketing and it will someday be considered spam. {{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} | |||
| ===Commercial uses=== | |||
| ] ]]] | |||
| ==== Text Messaging Gateway Providers ==== | |||
| {{Unreferenced section|date=July 2008}} | |||
| ] providers facilitate the SMS traffic between businesses and mobile subscribers, being mainly responsible for carrying mission-critical messages, SMS for enterprises, content delivery and entertainment services involving SMS, e.g. TV voting. Considering SMS messaging performance and cost, as well as the level of text messaging services, ] providers can be classified as the cell phone aggregators or ] providers. | |||
| SMS messaging gateway providers can provide gateway-to-mobile (Mobile Terminated – MT) services. Some suppliers can also supply mobile-to-gateway (text-in or Mobile Originated/MO services). Many operate text-in services on shortcodes or mobile number ranges, whereas others use lower-cost geographic text-in numbers <ref name="autogenerated1">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/18/aql_textable_landlines/</ref>. | |||
| ====Premium content ==== | |||
| {{Unreferenced section|date=July 2008}} | |||
| Seth J. Caudill 1-606-465-5269 call him on Feb. 14 2010SMS is widely used for delivering digital content such as news alerts, financial information, logos and ringtones. Such messages are also known as ''premium-rated short messages'' (''PSMS''). The subscribers are charged extra for receiving this premium content, and the amount is typically divided between the ] and the ] (VASP) either through revenue share or a fixed transport fee. Services like ] and ] have used the PSMS model to enable rapid response to mobile consumers' questions, using on-call teams of experts and researchers. | |||
| Premium short messages are increasingly being used for "real-world" services. For example, some vending machines now allow payment by sending a premium-rated short message, so that the cost of the item bought is added to the user's phone bill or subtracted from the user's prepaid credits. Recently, premium messaging companies have come under fire from consumer groups due to a large number of consumers racking up huge phone bills. Some mobile networks, now require users to call their provider to enable premium messages to reach their handset. | |||
| A new type of 'free premium' or 'hybrid premium' content has emerged with the launch of text-service websites. These sites allow registered users to receive free text messages when items they are interested in go on sale, or when new items are introduced. | |||
| An alternative to inbound SMS is based on ] (international mobile number format, e.g., +44 7624 805000 or geographic numbers which can handle voice and SMS eg 01133203040<ref name="autogenerated1"/>), which can be used in place of short codes / premium-rated short messages for SMS reception in several applications, such as TV voting, product promotions and campaigns. ] are internationally available, as well as enabling businesses to have their own number, rather than short codes which are usually shared across a lot of brands. Additionally, ] are non-premium inbound numbers. | |||
| ===In business=== | |||
| The use of text messaging for business purposes has grown significantly during the mid '00's. As companies seek competitive advantages, many employees turn to new technology, collaborative applications, and real-time messaging like SMS, ], and mobile communications. Some practical uses of text messaging include the fuse of SMS for confirming delivery or other tasks, and for instant communication between a service provider and a client (e.g. stock broker and investor), and for sending alerts. Several universities have implemented a system of texting students and faculties campus alerts. One such example is ].<ref>http://live.psu.edu/story/29845</ref> | |||
| As text messaging has proliferated in business, so too have regulations governing its use. In highly regulated industries like financial services, energy and commodities trading, and health care, government regulations have steadily kept pace with technology innovations and now address the need to supervise and archive employee text messages. {{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}<!-- but note the source which follows:--> One regulation specifically governing the use of text messaging in financial services firms engaged in stocks, equities, and securities trading is ''Regulatory Notice 07-59, Supervision of Electronic Communications, December 2007'', issued to member firms by the ]. In 07-59, FINRA noted that "electronic communications", "email", and "electronic correspondence" may be used interchangeably and can include such forms of electronic messaging as instant messaging and ''text messaging''.<ref></ref> Industry has had to develop new technology to allow companies to archive their employees' mad zombie syndrome text messages. | |||
| Security, confidentiality, reliability and speed of SMS are among the most important guarantees industries like financial services, energy and commodities trading, health care and enterprises demand in their mission-critical procedures. One way to guarantee such a quality of text messaging lies in introducing SLAs (]), which are common in IT contracts. By providing measurable SLAs, corporates can define reliability parameters and set up a high quality of their services.<ref> Mobile Industry Review (29th April 2008)</ref> Just one of many SMS applications that has proven highly popular and successful in the financial services industry is ]. dont text while driving | |||
| ===Worldwide use=== | |||
| {{Missing information|Africa (text messaging is very relevant there)|date=November 2009}} | |||
| ==== Europe ==== | |||
| ] between countries. Here, ] welcomes a ] subscriber to the UK and ] welcomes an ] UK customer to Belgium.]] | |||
| Europe follows next behind Asia in terms of the popularity of the use of SMS. In 2003, an average of 16 billion messages were sent each month. Users in ] sent a little more than fifty messages per month on average in 2003. In ], ] and the ] the figure was around 35–40 SMS messages per month. In each of these countries the cost of sending an SMS message varies from as little as €0.04–€0.23 depending on the payment plan (with many contractual plans including all or a number of texts for free). In the ] text messages are charged between £0.05-£0.12. Curiously ] has not taken to SMS in the same way, sending just under 20 messages on average per user per month. France has the same ] technology as other European countries so the uptake is not hampered by technical restrictions. | |||
| In the ], a total of 1.5 billion messages are sent every quarter, on average 114 messages per person per month.<ref name="RTE report"></ref> Whilst in the ] over 1 billion text messages are sent every week.<ref name="Mobile Data Association UK"></ref> | |||
| The ] organized the first pan-European SMS-voting in 2002, as a part of the voting system (there was also a voting over traditional phone lines). In 2005, the Eurovision Song Contest organized the biggest televoting ever (with SMS and phone voting). | |||
| During ], that is when a user connects to another network in different country than his own, the prices are much higher, usually €0.25- €0.50 in Europe. Still, SMS is very popular during trips, since calling is also much more expensive than usual. In July 2008, the ] decided to introduce legislation that limits this price to €0.11. | |||
| ] is the leading country in sending SMS messages. An average Croat sends around 70 messages per month. | |||
| ==== United States ==== | |||
| {{Out of date|section|date=October 2009}} | |||
| In the ], text messaging is also popular; as reported by CTIA, the average number of text messages sent per subscriber per month was 188.<ref> from ]</ref> In the US, SMS is often charged both at the sender and at the destination, but, unlike phone calls, it cannot be rejected or dismissed. The reasons for lower uptake than other countries are varied—many users have unlimited "mobile-to-mobile" minutes, high monthly minute allotments, or unlimited service. Moreover, ] services offer the instant connectivity of SMS and are typically unlimited. Furthermore, the integration between competing providers and technologies necessary for cross-network text messaging has only been available recently. Some providers originally charged extra to enable use of text, further reducing its usefulness and appeal. The relative popularity of ]-based devices such as the ] in North America may be a response to the weakness of text messaging there, but these further weaken the appeal of texting among the users most likely to use it. {{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} However, the addition of ]-powered SMS voting on the television program '']'' has introduced many Americans to SMS, and usage is on the rise.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} In the third quarter of 2006, at least 12 billion text messages crossed AT&T's network, up almost 15 percent from the preceding quarter. | |||
| In the United States, while texting is widely popular among the ages of 13–22 years old, it is increasing among adults and business users as well. The age that a child receives his/her first cell phone has also decreased, making text messaging a very popular way of communication for all ages. According to both the Mobile Marketing Association and Pew Internet & American Life Project Surveys, 80% of US Mobile phone users text. {{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} The split by age group is as follows: 13-27's: 87% text, 15-37's 73% text, 28-39's: | |||
| 44% text, 40-49's: 18% text. The amount of texts being sent in the United States has gone up over the years as the price has gone down to an average of $0.10 per text sent and received. Many providers also will make unlimited texting available for a lower price.{{cite}} | |||
| In order to convince more customers to include text messaging plans some major cell phone providers have recently increased the price to send and receive text messages from 15¢ to 20¢ per message.<ref> from the company's website</ref><ref> from ]</ref> This is over $1,300 per ].<ref>, a September 10, 2008 article from ] Government</ref> | |||
| ==== Finland ==== | |||
| {{Unreferenced section|date=July 2008}} | |||
| In addition to SMS voting, a different phenomenon has risen in more mobile-phone-saturated countries. In ] some TV channels began "SMS chat", which involved sending short messages to a phone number, and the messages would be shown on TV a while later. Chats are always moderated, which prevents sending harmful material to the channel. The craze soon became popular and evolved into games, first slow-paced quiz and strategy games. After a while, faster paced games were designed for television and SMS control. Games tend to involve registering one's nickname, and after that sending short messages for controlling a character on screen. Messages usually cost 0.05 to 0.86 ] apiece, and games can require the player to send dozens of messages. In December 2003, a Finnish TV-channel, ], put a ] character on air reading aloud messages sent in by viewers. On ] 2004, the first entirely "interactive" TV-channel "VIISI" began operation in Finland. That did not last long though, as SBS Finland Oy took over the channel and turned it into a music channel named "The Voice" in November 2004. | |||
| In 2006, the ], ], made front page news when he allegedly broke up with his girlfriend with a text message. | |||
| In 2007, the first ever book written solely in text messages, ] (Last Messages), was released by Finnish author ]. It is about a business executive who travels throughout Europe and India. | |||
| Mobile service providers in Finland offer contracts where you can send 1000 text messages a month for the price of €10. | |||
| ==== Japan ==== | |||
| Japan was among the first countries to widely adopt short messages, with pioneering non-GSM services including ]'s "]" and ]'s "]". Japanese adolescents first began text messaging because it was a cheaper form of communication than the other available forms. Thus, Japanese theorists created the selective interpersonal relationship theory, claiming that mobile phones can change social networks among young people (classified as 13-30-year olds). They theorized this age group had extensive, but low-quality relationships with friends, and mobile phone usage may facilitate improvement in the quality of their relationships. They concluded this age group prefers “selective interpersonal relationships in which they maintain particular, partial, but rich relations, depending on the situation”.<ref>Igarashi, T., Takai, J., & Yoshida, T. (2005). Gender differences in social network development via mobile phone text messages: A longitudinal study. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22(5), 691-713.</ref><ref>Ishii, Kenichi. "Implications of Mobility: The Uses of Personal Communication Media in Everyday Life." Journal of Communication 56 (2006): 346-65.</ref> The same studied showed participants rated friendships in which they communicated Face-to-Face and through mobile/cell phone text message (MPTM) as being more intimate than those in which they communicated solely through Face-to-Face. This indicates participants make new relationships with Face-to-Face communication at an early stage, but use MPTM to increase their contact later on. It is also interesting to note that as the relationships between participants grew more intimate, the frequency of MPTM also increased. | |||
| However, short messaging has been largely rendered obsolete by the prevalence of mobile Internet ], which can be sent to and received from any e-mail address, mobile or otherwise. That said, while usually presented to the user simply as a uniform "mail" service (and most users are unaware of the distinction), the operators may still internally transmit the content as short messages, especially if the destination is on the same network. | |||
| ====China==== | |||
| Text message is popular and cheap in China. About 700 billion messages were sent in 2007. | |||
| Text message spam is also a problem in China. In 2007, 353.8 billion spam messages were sent, up 93% from previous year. It is about 12.44 msgs/week/person. | |||
| Among Chinese migrant workers with little formal education, it is common to refer to SMS manuals when text messaging. These manuals are published as cheap, handy, smaller-than-pocket-size booklets, which offer diverse linguistic phrases to use as messages. <ref>Lin, Angel and Avin Tong. "Mobile Cultures of Migrant Workers in Southern China: Informal Literacies in the Negotiation of (New) Social Relations of the New Working Women." Knowledge, Technology, and Policy 21 (June 2008): 73-81.</ref> | |||
| ==== Philippines ==== | |||
| On onset of SMS services in the Philippines, GSM networks Islacom and Globe Telecom gave unlimited SMS services for 150 pesos a month until 2001. Because the service is affordable, and GSM service is starting to pick up on other countries, the Philippines became known as the ‘text capital of the world’. SMS traffic has fast become a burden on these networks thus, they sought to charge subscribers 1 pesos per SMS. Public outrage soon followed leading to establishment of activist groups, nevertheless, the public are able to cope up with the costs. ‘Presently each mobile phone user in the Philippines is sending out at least 10 text messages a day compared to about 3 text messages per user in the United Kingdom (Pertierra 2005a; cf. Ling 2004). About one Filipino in two is a subscriber to a mobile phone service.<ref>(http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?productid=1491243&g=1) </ref> | |||
| At the end of 2007 four of the top mobile phone service providers in the country stated there are 42.78 million mobile phone subscribers in the Philippines. <ref> (http://salaswildthoughts.blogspot.com/2006/08/plague-for-philippines-texting-capital.html)</ref> | |||
| ==== New Zealand ==== | |||
| There are three main telecommunication company networks in New Zealand. Telecom was the first telecommunication company in New Zealand and owns all the land lines, however it also "rents" them out for other companies to use. Vodafone acquired Bellsouth New Zealand in 1998 and claims to hold 53.7% of New Zealand mobile market as of 30 December 2007 <ref> from the ] website</ref> and 2degrees arrived in 2009. Around 85% of the adult population have a mobile phone <ref>{{cite journal| url=http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/118-1216/1494/ | title= Smoking cessation using mobile phone text messaging is as effective in Maori as non-Maori | publisher= ] | date=03 June 2005 | volume= 118 | issue= 1216 | quote=More than 85% of young New Zealand adults now have a mobile phone (statistics by ethnicity are not available), and text messaging among this age group has rapidly developed into a new communications medium. }}</ref> | |||
| == Social impact== | |||
| {{Prose|section|date=September 2009}} | |||
| The advent of text messaging made possible new forms of interaction which were not possible before. However, it has also had an effect on the everyday language of its regular users{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}. Text messaging has become ubiquitous, and is used wherever mobile phone service is available; for a large group{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} of users, their mobile phones function first as text messaging devices, and secondly as voice calling devices. A person may now carry out a conversation with another user without the constraint of being expected to reply within a short amount of time, and without needing to set time aside to engage in conversation. Mobile phone users can maintain communication during situations in which a voice call is impractical, impossible, or unacceptable. Texting has provided a venue for participatory culture, allowing viewers to vote in online and TV polls, as well as receive information on the move.<ref>Levinson, Paul. 2004.</ref> Texting can also bring people together and create a sense of community through ‘Smart Mobs’ or ‘Net Wars’, which create ‘people power’.<ref>Rheingold, H. 2002</ref> | |||
| === Effect on language === | |||
| {{Refimprovesect|date=August 2008}} | |||
| {{Main|SMS language}} | |||
| ] | |||
| The small ] caused a number of adaptations of spelling, as in the phrase "txt msg", or use of ], such as in "ThisIsVeryLame". To avoid the even more limited message lengths allowed when using ] or ] letters, speakers of languages written in those alphabets often use the ] for their own ]. | |||
| In certain languages utilizing ] as in ], SMS technology created entire new variant of written language: characters normally written with ] (eg. ], ], ], ] in ]), are now being written without them (as a, e, s, z) to enable using cell phones without Polish ] or to save space in ] messages. | |||
| Historically, this language developed out of short-hand used in ] and later in internet ], where users would abbreviate some words to allow a response to be typed more quickly, though the amount of time saved is often inconsequential. However, this became much more pronounced in SMS, where mobile phone users don't generally have access to a ] keyboard as computer users did, more effort is required to type each character, and there is a limit on the number of characters that may be sent. | |||
| In Mandarin Chinese, numbers that sound similar to words are used in place of those words. For example, the numbers 520 in Chinese ("wu er ling") sound like the words for "I love you" ("wo ai ni"). The sequence 748 ("qi si ba") sounds like the curse, "go to hell" ("qu si ba"). | |||
| ] ] that attempts to guess ]s (]'s ] as well as iTAP) or ] (Eatoni's ]) reduces the labour of time-consuming input. This makes abbreviations not only less necessary, but slower to type than regular words which are in the software's ]. However it does make the messages longer, often requiring the text message to be sent in multiple parts and therefore costing more to send. | |||
| Website portals such as transl8it have supported a community of users to help standardize this text speak by allowing users to submit translations, staking claim with their user handle, or to submit top messages and guess the lingo phrases. The international popularity of this portal resulted in late 2005 the publishing of the transl8it! dxNRE & glosRE (dictionary & glossary) as the world's first, and most complete, SMS and text lingo book. | |||
| {{wikinews|New Zealand students able to use txt language in exams}} | |||
| The use of text messaging has changed the way that people talk and write essays, some<ref></ref> believing it to be harmful. In November 2006, New Zealand Qualifications Authority approved the move that allowed students of secondary schools to use mobile phone text language in the end of the year exam papers.<ref></ref> Highly publicized reports, beginning in 2002, of the use of text language in school assignments caused some to become concerned that the quality of written communication is on the decline,<ref name="autogenerated1" /> and other reports claim that teachers and professors are beginning to have a hard time controlling the problem.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> However, the notion that text language is widespread or harmful is refuted by research from linguistic experts.<ref></ref> | |||
| An article in '']'' explores how text messaging has “]” some of the world’s languages with English. The use of ] is dropped in languages such as ], as well as symbols in ]. In his book, ], ] says: “Texters in all eleven languages use “lol,” “u,” “brb,” and “gr8,” all English-based shorthands.” The use of pictograms and logograms in texts are present in every language. They shorten words by using symbols to represent the word, or symbols whose name sounds like a syllable of the word such as in 2day or b4. This is commonly used in other languages as well. Crystal gives some examples in several languages such as "Italian sei “six” is used for sei ‘you are.’ Example: dv 6 = dove sei (‘where are you’)” and “French sept ‘seven’ = cassette (‘casette’). There is also the use of numeral sequences, substituting for several syllables of a word and creating whole phrases using numerals. For example in French, a12c4 can be said as á un de ces quatres “see you around” (literally: ‘to one of these fours’). An example of using symbols in texting and borrowing from English is the use of @. Whenever it is used in texting its intended use is with the English pronunciation. Crystal gives the example of the Welsh use of @ in “@F” pronounced ataf meaning ‘to me.’ In character based languages such as Chinese and Japanese, numbers are assigned syllables based on the shortened form of the pronunciation of the number, and sometimes the English pronunciation of the number, in this way numbers alone can be used to communicate whole passages such as in Chinese “8807701314520 literally translated as ‘Hug hug you, kiss kiss you, whole life, whole life I love you.’ English influences worldwide texting in variation but still in combination with the individual properties of languages. <ref>Crystal, David. Txtng: the gr8 db8. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print. (pages 131 -137)</ref> | |||
| American ] is also recognized in shorthand. For example, ] translates into: ~(_8^(|).<ref>''The New Yorker'' "Thumbspeak" Menand,Louis. Oct.20,2008.</ref> | |||
| Recent research by Rosen et al. (2009)<ref>Rosen, L.D., Chang, J., Erwin, L., Carrier, L.M., & Cheever, N.A. (in press 2009). The Relationship Between "Textisms" and Formal and Informal Writing Among Young Adults. ''Communication Research''</ref> found that those young adults who used more language-based textisms (shortcuts such as LOL, 2nite, etc.) in daily writing produced worse formal writing than those young adults who used fewer linguistic textisms in daily writing. However, the exact opposite was true for informal writing. This suggests that perhaps the act of using textisms to shorten communication words leads young adults to produce more informal writing which may then help them to be better "informal" writers. | |||
| === Texting while driving=== | |||
| ] | |||
| {{Main|Texting while driving}} | |||
| Texting while driving leads to increased distraction behind the wheel. In 2006, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group conducted a survey with more than 900 teens from over 26 high schools nationwide. The results showed that 87% of students found texting to be, "very" or "extremely" distracting. Then later on, a study by the ] discovered that an alarming 46% of teens admitted to being distracted behind the wheel due to texting. One example of distraction behind the wheel is the ] which killed 25 passengers. Upon closer investigation it became known that the engineer of that train had sent 45 text messages while operating. | |||
| A 2009 experiment with ] editor Eddie Alterman that took place at a deserted air strip showed that texting while driving had a bigger negative impact on driver safety than being drunk. While being legally drunk added 4 feet to Alterman's stopping distance while going 70 mph, reading an email added 36 feet, and sending a text added 70 feet.<ref>, CNBC, June 25, 2009</ref> | |||
| In 2009, the ] Transportation Institute released the results of an 18 month study which involved placing cameras inside the cabs of more than 100 long haul trucks, which recorded the drivers over a combined driving distance of three million miles. The study concluded that when the drivers were texting, their risk of crashing was 23 times greater than when not texting.<ref>, The New York Times, July 27, 2009</ref> | |||
| Texting during protected left turns can cause ]s. | |||
| === "Sexting" === | |||
| {{Main|Sexting}} | |||
| Sexting is slang for the act of sending sexually explicit or suggestive content between mobile devices using SMS.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Risks and Threats"> MySecureCyberspace. Retrieved on 2009-01-13.</ref> A genre of texting, it contains either text, images, or video that is intended to be sexually arousing. | |||
| A ] of sex and texting, sexting was reported as early as 2005 in the ] Magazine,<ref name=SunTele>{{cite news |title=The One and Only |author=Yvonne Roberts |date=2005-07-31 |accessdate=2009-01-14 |page=22 |quote=Following a string of extramarital affairs and several lurid "sexting" episodes, Warne has found himself home alone, with Simone Warne taking their three children and flying the conjugal coop.}}</ref> constituting a trend in the creative use of SMS to excite another with alluring messages throughout the day.<ref> From the Mind of GrandDiva. Retrieved on 2009-01-13.</ref> | |||
| Although sexting often takes place consensually between two people, it can also occur against the wishes of a person who is the subject of the content.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Risks and Threats"/> A number of instances have been reported where the recipients of sexting have shared the content of the messages with others, with less intimate intentions, such as to impress their friends or embarrass their sender. Celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens, and Adrienne Bailon have been victims of such abuses of sexting.<ref> XYHD.TV. Retrieved on 2009-01-13.</ref> | |||
| A 2008 survey by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com<ref></ref> suggested a trend of sexting and other seductive online content being readily shared between teens. One in five teen girls surveyed (22 percent)—and 11 percent of teen girls ages 13–16 years old—say they have electronically sent, or posted online, nude or semi-nude images of themselves. One-third (33 percent) of teen boys and one-quarter (25 percent) of teen girls say they were shown private nude or semi-nude images. According to the survey, sexually suggestive messages (text, email, and instant messaging) were even more common than images, with 39 percent of teens having sent or posted such messages, and half of teens (50 percent) having received them. | |||
| Sexting becomes a legal issue when teens (under 18) are involved because any nude photos they may send of themselves would put the recipients in possession of child pornography.<ref> The Plain Dealer. 2008-12-13.</ref> | |||
| === In schools=== | |||
| Text messaging has had an impact on students academically, by creating an easier way to cheat on exams. In December 2002, a dozen students were caught cheating on an accounting exam through the use of text messages on their mobile phones.<ref name="autogenerated1"></ref> In December 2002, Hitotsubashi University in Japan failed 26 students for receiving e-mailed exam answers on their mobile phones.<ref></ref> | |||
| The number of students caught using mobile phones to cheat on exams has increased significantly in recent years. According to Okada (2005), most Japanese mobile phones can send and receive long text messages of between 250 and 3000 characters with graphics, video, audio, and web links.<ref> Okada, T. (2005). ''Youth culture and shaping of Japanese mobile media: personalization and the keitainInternet as multimedia'', in M. Ito, D. Okabe and M. Matsuda (eds), ''Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life'', Cambridge, MA: MIT Press</ref> In England, 287 school and college students were excluded from exams in 2004 for using mobile phones during exams.<ref></ref> Some teachers and professors claim that advanced texting features can lead to students cheating on exams.<ref>Goggin, G (2006).''Cell Phone Culture: Mobile technology in everyday life''. New York: Routledge</ref> | |||
| ====Bullying==== | |||
| The use of text messaging has been banned in many schools because the cause of harassment, threats to the school security, and for cheating on tests and plagiarism{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}. | |||
| Spreading rumors and gossip by text is also an issue of great concern. Text "bullying" of this sort can cause distress and damage reputations. Harding and Rosenberg (2005) argue that the urge to forward text messages seems difficult to resist, describing text messages as "loaded weapons".<ref>Harding, S. & Rosenberg, D. (Ed). (2005). ''Histories of the Future''. London: Duke University Press, p84</ref> | |||
| A survey conducted among mobile professionals in Europe and North America demonstrated that 94% of those surveyed believed bullying by SMS to be a reality. The survey was conducted via SMS among a pan European and North American mobile professional audience and 412 responded to the survey questions. The survey measured mobile professional’s opinion on bullying by SMS as well as their opinion on who should provide the protection against this threat.<ref>http://www.openmindnetworks.com/operators/BullyingbySMS.asp</ref> | |||
| === Law and crime === | |||
| {{Cleanup|section|date=January 2009}} | |||
| Not only has text messaging had an impact in schools, but also on police forces around the world. A British company developed, in June 2003, a program called Fortress SMS for Symbian phones. This program used 128 bit AES encryption to protect SMS messages.<ref>^ Fortress SMS technical report</ref> Police have also retrieved deleted messages to frame cult member Sara Svensson after confessing to murdering the wife of pastor Helge Fossmo and having shot his lover's husband Daniel Linde in Knutby, Sweden. They traced the messages because she said she had acted anonymously on text forwards received in her phone.<ref>^ Robert Burnett; Ylva Hård af Segerstad (2005-09-08). "The SMS murder mystery" in Safety and Security in a Networked World. Balancing Cyber-Rights & Responsibilities, Oxford Internet Institute. </ref> | |||
| Police in Tilburg, the Netherlands, started an SMS alert program where they would send a message to ask citizens to be vigilant when a burglar was on the loose or a child was missing in their neighborhood. Several thieves have been caught and children found using the "SMS Alerts". The service has been expanding rapidly to other cities.{{Citation broken|date=June 2008}} A Malaysian/Australian company released its "Crypto for Criminals" multi-layer SMS security program.<ref>^ CryptoSMS - Crypto for Criminals</ref> Boston police are now turning to text messaging to help stop crime. The Boston Police Department has established a program where you can text in a crime tip anonymously to help stop crimes.<ref></ref> | |||
| A Malaysian court had ruled that it is legal to divorce through the use of text messaging as long as you are clear and unequivocal.<ref>^ BBC news article about Malaysian law allowing divorce via text messaging.</ref> | |||
| === Social unrest === | |||
| Texting has been used on a number of occasions with the result of the gathering of large aggressive crowds. SMS messaging drew a crowd to ] in ] resulting in the ]. Not only were text messages circulating in the Sydney area, but in other states as well (Daily Telegraph). The volume of such text messages and emails also increased in the wake of the riot.<ref>^ http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0603/02-goggin.php SMS Riot: Transmitting Race on a Sydney Beach, December 2005 M/C Journal, Volume 9, Iss 1, Mar 2006</ref> The crowd of 5000 at stages became violent, attacking certain ethnic groups. Sutherland Shire Mayor directly blamed heavily circulated SMS messages for the unrest.<ref>^ Text messages 'fuel trouble' - National - smh.com.au</ref> NSW police considered whether people could be charged over the texting <ref>^ Police consider SMS Cronulla messages 'a crime' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)</ref> Retaliatory attacks also used SMS.<ref>^ Kennedy, Les. "Man in court over Cronulla revenge SMS", The Sydney Morning Herald, 2006-12-06. Retrieved on 2006-08-31. </ref> | |||
| The Narre Warren Incident, where a group of 500 party goers attended a party at Narre Warren in Melbourne Australia and rioted in January 2008, also was a response of communication being spread by SMS and Myspace.<ref>^ http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/just-me-and-500-close-mates/2008/01/13/1200159277507.html "Police probe how 500 teens got invite" | |||
| </ref> Following the Incident, the Police Commissioner wrote an open letter asking young people to be aware of the power of SMS and the internet.<ref> ^ http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23054773-5007146,00.html "We were all young once, but teens need limits." </ref> In Hong Kong, government officials find that text messaging helps socially because they can send multiple texts to the community. Officials say it is an easy way of contacting community or individuals for meetings or events.<ref>http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~fanis/csc104/student-presentations/mobile.html</ref> | |||
| Texting was used to coordinate gatherings during the ]. | |||
| === Texting in politics === | |||
| Text messaging has had a major impact on the political world. American campaigns find that text messaging is a much easier, cheaper way of getting to the voters than the door to door approach.<ref></ref> Mexico's president-elect Felipe Calderón launched millions of text messages in the days immediately preceding his narrow win over Andres Manuel Lopez Obradór.<ref name="autogenerated2"></ref> In January 2001, Joseph Estrada was forced to resign from the post of president of the Philippines. The popular campaign against him was widely reported to have been co-ordinated with SMS chain letters.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> A massive texting campaign was credited with boosting youth turnout in Spain's 2004 parliamentary elections.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> In 2008, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his Chief of Staff at the time became entangled in a sex scandal stemming from the exchange of over 14,000 text messages that eventually led to his forced resignation, conviction of perjury, and other charges. <ref></ref> | |||
| Text messaging has been used to turn down other political leaders. During the 2004 US Democratic and Republican National Conventions, protestors used an SMS based organizing tool called TXTmob to get to opponents.<ref></ref> In the last day before the 2004 presidential elections in Romania, a message against ] was largely circulated, thus breaking the laws that prohibited campaigning that day. No action was taken. {{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} | |||
| Text messaging has helped politics by promoting campaigns. In 2006, the ] initiated a campaign for people to text the First minister ] to demonstrate their support for free school meals. {{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} SMS messages were used by Chinese nationalists to rapidly spread word of the time and location of demonstrations during the 2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations. {{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} Political organisations such as Cymru X, the Plaid Cymru youth wing, and the Young Scots for Independence, the youth wing of the ], have used a "text referendum" to gain public support and raise the profile of their respective causes. {{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} | |||
| Furthermore, on January 20, 2001, President ] of the Philippines became the first head of state in history to lose power to a ].<ref name="Rheingold, Howard 2002">Rheingold, Howard (2002) Smart Mobs: the Next Social Revolution, Perseus, Cambridge, Massachusetts, pp.xi-xxii, 157-82.</ref> More than one million Manila residents assembled at the site of the 1986 ] peaceful demonstrations that has toppled the Marcos Regime. These people have organized themselves and coordinated their actions through text messaging. They were able to bring down a government without having to use any weapons or violence. Through text messaging their plans and ideas were communicated to others and successfully implemented. Also, this move encouraged the military withdraw their support from the regime and as a result the Estrada government fell.<ref name="Rheingold, Howard 2002"/> People were able to converge and unite with the use of their cell phones. "The rapid assembly of the anti-Estrada crowd was a hallmark of early ] technology, and the millions of text messages exchanged by the demonstrators in 2001 was, by all accounts, a key to the crowds ].<ref name="Rheingold, Howard 2002"/> | |||
| ===Medical concerns=== | |||
| {{Main|Blackberry thumb}} | |||
| The excessive use of the thumb for pressing keys on mobile devices has led to a high rate of a form of ] termed "]."<br /> | |||
| As well as 'blackberry thumb' an '']''<ref>Study of Mental Implications of Texting - http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/reprint/165/3/306</ref> study in March 2008 found that excessive text messaging was also potentially the cause or a sign of mental illness. According to Dr. Jerald Block the four main issues stemming from text messaging are:<br /> | |||
| • Feelings of withdrawal when being away from the technology and unable to text; <br /> | |||
| • Increased need for better equipment and texting abilities;<br /> | |||
| • Need of more time - ] spend at least 30 minutes per day sending texts<ref>Australians and Texting - http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23414957-2,00.html</ref><br /> | |||
| • Negative social and mental repercussions. <br /> | |||
| • Brain development-especially in children;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1205578/How-predictive-texting-takes-toll-childs-brain.html|title=How predictive texting takes its toll on a child's brain Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1205578/How-predictive-texting-takes-toll-childs-brain.html#ixzz0O4Oz2JOL|last=Grant|first=Caroline |date=8:42 AM on 11th August 2009|publisher=Mail Online|accessdate=2009-08-13}}</ref><br /> | |||
| This highlights that due to the increased use and accessibility of the form of ], many numbers of users are unable to function within their daily lives to the extent that not having the device and ability to text around them can in fact become damaging rather than healthy.<br /> | |||
| Texting has also been linked as a secondary source in numerous ], in which ] ] of mobile phone records have found that many drivers have lost control of their cars whilst attempting to send or retrieve a text message. Increasing cases of internet ] are now also being linked to text messaging, as mobile phones are now more likely to have email and web capabilities to complement the ability to text. | |||
| === Texting etiquette=== | |||
| "From beyond the grave," it seems that America's twentieth century etiquette guru, ] still has lessons regarding people living in the twenty-first century. At the ] website, the topic of texting has spurred several articles, with the "do's and dont's of regarding the new form of communication. One example from the site is: "Keep your message brief. No one wants to have an entire conversation with you by texting when you could just call him or her instead."<ref>http://www.emilypost.com/lifething/tips/text_messaging.htm</ref> | |||
| Another example is: don't use all Caps. Typing a text message in all capital letters will appear as though you are shouting at the recipient, and should be avoided. | |||
| ==Challenges== | |||
| ===Text message spam === | |||
| In 2002, an increasing trend towards ] mobile phone users through SMS prompted cellular service carriers to take steps against the practice, before it became a widespread problem. No major spamming incidents involving SMS had been reported {{As of|2007|alt=as of March 2007}}, but the existence of mobile-phone spam has been noted by industry watchdogs, including '']'' magazine and the Utility Consumers' Action Network (). In 2005, UCAN brought a case against Sprint for spamming its customers and charging $0.10 per text message.<ref name="Sprint spam"></ref> The case was settled in 2006 with Sprint agreeing not to send customers Sprint advertisements via SMS.<ref name="Sprint spam result"></ref> | |||
| SMS expert Acision (used to be LogicaCMG Telecoms) reported a new type of SMS-malice at the end of 2006, noting the first instances of SMiShing (a cousin to email ] scams). In SMiShing, users receive SMS messages posing to be from a company, enticing users to phone premium rate numbers, or reply with personal information. | |||
| ===Pricing concerns=== | |||
| Concerns have been voiced<ref name="crunchgear.com">http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/07/01/atts-text-messages-cost-1310-per-megabyte/</ref> over the excessive cost of off-plan text messaging in the ]. ], along with most other service providers, charges texters 20 cents per message, if they do not have a messaging plan or if they have exceeded their allotted number of texts. Given that an SMS message is at most 160 ] in size, this cost scales to a cost of $1,310<ref name="crunchgear.com"/> per megabyte sent via text message. This is in sharp contrast with the price of unlimited data plans offered by the same carriers, which allow the transmission of hundreds of megabytes of data for monthly prices of about $15 to $40 in addition to a voice plan. In addition, it has been revealed that due to the nature of system used by carriers to send text messages between phones, texting does not cost the carriers any money at all.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/business/28digi.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss</ref> This is because SMS messages are designed to fit inside the bandwidth alloted to the "control channel", which is used to establish communication between the ] and the ]. This channel is continuously active, so the messages are ]ing on the control signal, for free.<br /> | |||
| Although they deny any collusion all major carriers have increased pricing for out of package text messages from 10 to 20 cents in the United States over the past two years (2007-2008).<ref>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2348890,00.asp</ref> On July 16, 2009 senate hearings were held to look into any breach of the ].<ref>http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10265859-94.html</ref> | |||
| ===Security concerns=== | |||
| SMS should not be used for confidential communication. The contents of SMS messages are known to the network operator's systems and personnel. Therefore, SMS is not an appropriate technology for secure communications.<ref name="Gartner Research Analytical Source">http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=111720</ref> | |||
| ==Text messaging in popular culture == | |||
| ===Records and competition=== | |||
| <!-- We should only list records accepted by the Guinness Book of World Records or other large neutral body. Otherwise, it will become a haven for spamming random text message records --> | |||
| {{wikinews|Singapore student is world's fastest text messenger}} | |||
| The '']'' has a world record for text message, currently held by Sonja Kristiansen of Norway. Ms. Kristiansen keyed in the official text message, as established by Guinness, in 37.28 seconds.<ref>http://www.tv2nyhetene.no/innenriks/sonja-satte-smsverdensrekord-3008895.html</ref> The message is, "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality, they seldom attack a human."<ref>http://www.tv2nyhetene.no/innenriks/sonja-satte-smsverdensrekord-3008895.html</ref> In 2005, the record was held by a 24-year-old Scottish man, Craig Crosbie, who completed the same message in 48 seconds, beating the previous time by 19 seconds.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4370000/newsid_4372800/4372871.stm</ref> | |||
| '']'' lists ] of ] as the world record holder for the fastest 160 character text message where the contents of the message are not provided ahead of time. His record of 62.3 seconds was set on May 23, 2007.<ref>^ Book Of Alternative Records|url=http://www.alternativerecords.co.uk/recorddetails.asp?recid=283</ref> | |||
| Elliot Nicholls of Dunedin, New Zealand currently holds the World Record for the fastest blindfolded text messaging. A record of a 160 letter text in 45 seconds while blindfolded was set on the 17th of November 2007, beating the old record of 1 minute 26 seconds set by an Italian during September 2006.<ref>^ World's fastest texter found in Dunedin | TECHNOLOGY | NEWS | tvnz.co.nz</ref> | |||
| In January 2010, ] sponsored an international competition, the ] to determine that fastest pair of texters. The winners were a team from South Korea, Ms. ] and Mr. ] <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/world/asia/28seoul.html</ref>. | |||
| === Morse code === | |||
| A few competitions have been held between expert ] operators and expert SMS users.<ref name="Morse race">, ], ], ].</ref> Several mobile phones have Morse code ring tones and alert messages. For example, many ] mobile phones have an option to beep "S M S" in Morse code when it receives a short message. Some of these phones could also play the Nokia slogan "Connecting people" in Morse code as a message tone.<ref></ref> There are third-party applications available for some mobile phones that allow Morse input for short messages.<ref name="Nokia Morse">, ], ] ].</ref><ref name="O'Reilly Morse">, ], ] ].</ref><ref name="engadget Morse">, ], ], ].</ref> | |||
| == See also == | |||
| {{Wiktionary}} | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
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| * ] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{Reflist|2}} | |||
| == External links == | |||
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| {{commons|Short message service}} | |||
| *{{PDFlink||101 ]<!-- application/pdf, 103933 bytes -->}} | |||
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| *{{YouTube|741137|Information on Text Messaging SMS Services and how they work}} | |||
| *{{YouTube|U5NRfUffEIY|Documentary on Texting}} | |||
| * - A text and mobile phone dictionary written by west London teenagers. | |||
| * | |||
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Revision as of 20:37, 5 February 2010
if you dont know what texting if theres a problem. thank you. ( look at the ninja!!! QK)