BoyGeniusReport.com ran a story earlier this weekend that on average, teens send over 3,000 text messages a month.
“[Y]ou may or may not be surprised to know that U.S. teens, on average, send 3,339 text messages per month. The numbers come courtesy of analytics company Nielsen who analyzed the cellular habits of over 3,000 teens in April, May, and June. The study finds the males between the age of 13 and 17 send roughly 2,539 texts per month while females send a blistering 4,050.”
Call me old fashioned, but if I had that much to say, I’d save the stress on my thumbs and, you know, call the person on the phone. Now I’ll be the first to admit that text messaging has it’s place. For example, my wife works in a place where she can’t talk on her phone, and we have to send email or text messages.
When wireless carriers are counting text messages against your plan, they count both incoming and outgoing messages. It would be interesting to see if the numbers Nielson is reporting are outbound text messages by teens or not. If Nielsen is only counting outgoing messages, these are really some staggering numbers.
Bottom line: Parents if your kids have a cell phone capable of sending text messages, do yourself a favor and purchase the unlimited plan or have the text messaging service(s) blocked on their phone number. Or, better yet, tell your child that they will have to pay the monthly service fee for the unlimited text messaging plan, if not the entire bill.