The habit is impolite and annoying

Feb 13, 2009 11:00 GMT  ·  By
Texting has become a part of the American way of life, yet many people abuse it
   Texting has become a part of the American way of life, yet many people abuse it

The popularity of cell phones has really taken off in the US since 2001, as SMS services have become readily available, and started to catch on to the general population. While at the time only 1 million messages were sent between mobile phones in America, now more than 75 billion are delivered every month in the country, with some people registering as much as 17 to 20 thousand messages sent and received on a single phone. Naturally, this addiction to texting that some individuals have is unhealthy, as evidenced by the increasing number of dates that go wrong on account of that.

Imagine the following situation: a man and a woman meet for the first time in a bar or club, and start talking about stuff. While the conversation unfolds, one of the partners picks up his or her cell phone and starts messaging a friend with information about what he or she is doing at the moment. It's then that the other conversation partner becomes annoyed by this habit and gets up and walks away. While this may seem cheesy and Hollywood-related, it's unfortunately how more and more dates end in the US today.

There are those who say that texting has become an obsession, like a disease, with some people finding themselves unable to function without constantly sending messages to their entire social network of friends. Some teenage girls have even registered as many as 400 to 500 messages sent in a single day, which basically means that they must have typed almost non-stop over 24 hours, seeing how they have to sleep at times. One of them has even shamefully admitted that her fingers cramp at times, on account of too much typing, but that this is OK, because she loves staying connected with her friends.

Psychologists maintain that the situation has gone over the top, considering that individuals seem to prefer discussing their issues over messages, instead of simply meeting face to face. And distance is not a problem, as most “conversations” occur between people in the same city, or even the same neighborhood or suburb.

Naturally, the habit has its bright side, especially when considering that persons can easily stay connected with their loved ones who are a long distance away. But they should realize that artificially increasing the number of sent messages has no point. A simple division shows that each American citizen sends roughly 250 text messages each month, which is surely not the case.