Text Messaging on Rise With Young People

haha. i also had "duh" playing through my head as i read this article. it was like reading an article about how water is wet.

I think what's more interesting is articles like this were probably showing up in Japan at least 5 years ago. Their cell phone reception/feature set/options are startlingly far ahead of what we see in the US. As a _minor— example of the trend, one notices their cell cameras are generally better than ours.

Are we becomming too impersonal?

I suppose that depends on the degree to which you use IM or text messaging over traditional, "more personal," forms of communications.

I text a lot at school and at work, because it takes less time and is in some ways less interruptive than making a call. With IM and can have several conversations going and still be working on, something much better than I can talk on the phone to one person and, say, write a paper. Interruptions aren't as bad on IM-you can't really "forget what you're talking about" or wonder "what was I saying?" because all you need to do is scroll up.

But at the end of the day, if I really want to talk to someone, I'd rather do it over a beer than over a landline, cellular network, or the 'Net.